Souls of the Heart
by Riku Kingdom Hearts
Summary: Ventus had gone in to sleep within Sora's heart, but he didn't stay sleeping for long. Now Ven finds himself awake in Sora's mind as he travels along with him through his life and his adventures. Now if only people would stop telling Sora that Ventus was just an imaginary friend.
1. Chapter 1

Hey everyone! Welcome to a new story! This time it isn't just me writing this I got my friend **TheDeadGirlRisen** with me writing this story! She has her first KH story **Friends till the Very End**.

But yeah anyways we came up with this little idea and wanted to see where it could go. So I hope you enjoy!

September 2019: Updated chapter written all by **TheDeadGirlRisen**

* * *

 **Ch.1**

"Hey, can you hear me?" A voice called out from the darkness. With a curiosity he went towards the voice, or at least where he thought he heard it. A glimmer of light shone in the distance and he went towards it like a moth to fire.

Wherever he was it was comfortable, so he spoke out loud to whoever it was that called for him, "I heard your voice. It cut through the darkness around me," He realized distantly that he was familiar with this place, it was the heart that had helped him sometime before. "All alone, I followed the sound, into a sea of light… and found myself here, with you." He had no face, but he smiled nonetheless, "You gave me something back when I needed it most. A second chance."

"I did?" The boy responded, his voice holding a note of confusion.

"But… now I have to go back to sleep again," He felt tired as he spoke, his voice carried his emotions out there, his pain and longing. He wanted to sleep, but he wouldn't do it without the boy's permission. It felt wrong to just have the boy help him without asking for it.

"Are you sad?" The boy asked intuitively.

He gave a weary smile at that, but as he had no body it was lost, just a pointless gesture. He debated giving a verbal response before deciding to just ask, "Would you mind if I stayed here, with you?"

"Sure," The boy answered with easy acceptance, "If it'll make you feel better."

"Thank you," He gratefully said and he could feel himself being pulled into the boy's body, into his heart as his consciousness faded away. He thought that this would be it, his final rest, that he would sleep within this kind boy for the rest of the boy's life.

But, one day, after being asleep for what seemed like an eternity, he found himself waking up. He returned to consciousness with his mind groggy, feeling as if his mind was covered in cobwebs. His first thought was him wondering how long he had been asleep. Everything felt strange as he tried to focus on the image in front of himself.

He could hear and see things happening around him, but it just wasn't right. He could see a young boy in front of him, probably around five or six. The boy wore a yellow muscle shirt, lined in blue and he had on blue bracelets that matched. He had on black shorts and tennis shoes that were white and blue. His eyes were a bright sea-green that contrasted his silver hair. This boy held a wooden toy sword in front of him.

He looked at the boy and tried to remember who he was, if he knew this child, but he didn't recognize him at all. There was nothing about this boy who was familiar. "Come on Sora, don't give up yet," The boy said encouragingly as he held his sword in a defensive manner.

He tried to move, but found that his? This? Body didn't respond to him. He couldn't control any of his actions. Suddenly he heard words coming out of his mouth, as if he were speaking them, but he wasn't. In fact it felt even weirder that he didn't feel his mouth moving at all, nor did he feel any movements of the body.

He felt as if he was merely an observer, unable to do anything.

"I'm not gonna give up!" The words coming out of his? This? Mouth said, and he wondered if the voice responded to Sora, and if that meant this was Sora's body. The name was unfamiliar to him the same as the other boy, but… he knew the voice, he was sure of it.

Yet, he couldn't remember how he knew the voice. Just that the voice, this boy, was important in someway. As he thought over it though, he started to get more questions, and no real answers.

'Where am I? What am I doing here?'

His only answer was a faint stirring, and a slight memory of feeling tired, of needing to sleep. 'Why did I need to sleep?' He wondered and then winced as a memory of pain and brokenness assaulted him, leaving him to feel like he wasn't whole. He wanted to try and think of more questions to ask himself, to try and get a more clear picture of just why he was in this situation, but the voices of the two boys distracted him. He paid attention to what he was seeing, or rather what Sora was seeing and found that he was, Sora was laying on his back, the tip of the wooden sword near his face.

"I win again Sora," The silver haired boy said with a confident and smug grin.

"Aww," Sora pouted for a brief moment before smiling widely, "Well I'll beat you next time Riku!"

The boy with sea-green eyes laughed, "You said that the last time," Riku answered a slight teasing note in his voice.

"I know I can do it one day! You'll see!" Sora declared as he jumped back onto his feet. "I just gotta keep working on it!"

He felt proud of the boy for the determination he was showing and wanted to encourage him some more, so he decided to try and speak, ' _You can do it! Don't give up.'_

The vision spun around, yet he did not feel the head moving at all, "Huh? Is someone else here?" Sora spoke.

Riku gave a confused look, "What are you talking about Sora? There's no one else here."

He felt no movement, but he knew that Sora was frowning as he replied to Riku, "Huh, I thought I heard someone… I guess I was just imagining things…"

He had spoken, and the boy had seemingly heard him, perhaps he wasn't just an observer as he originally thought, perhaps he could help the boy in someway.

"Let's go Sora, it's almost dinner time, our parents will be waiting for us," Riku stated with a grin as he started to walk away.

Sora turned back to Riku and gave a small sprint to catch up with Riku, "Hey! Don't leave without me!"

Riku gave a laugh and took off running and Sora ran after him.

"Wait up!" Sora called out, but he could feel the grin on the boys face.

* * *

Once the boy laid down on his bed, he decided to talk to him. ' _Hey, can you hear me?'_ He questioned towards Sora, hoping that against all odds it was true the boy could hear him.

He knew the boy stiffened, but he didn't actually feel the body do the action. He did not feel the muscles tensing or any of that. "Who's there?" The young boy called out, a slight tremor in his voice.

' _My name's Ventus,'_ He responded, but was surprised himself, he hadn't really thought about his name till just now. Perhaps that was normal though, after all he hadn't needed to think his own name to himself.

"You sound familiar…" Sora started hesitantly, his head tilting to the side a bit, "Do I know you?"

' _You helped me out… I'm not sure how, my memories are a bit fuzzy, but I do remember that much.'_

It was quiet for a moment as Sora contemplated what Ventus said. "I remember, you said you had to sleep," He said with a wide grin stretching across his face, "Does this mean you're awake now?!" He questioned excitedly.

' _I guess I am…'_ He answered, unsure if he was truly healed or not. He didn't feel the need to sleep… but… something just didn't feel right.

"Does that mean you are going back to your home?" Sora asked in childish nativity.

' _I-I don't know… I want to, but- but… I don't know how…'_ He replied.

"Ah, well you can stay here, with me!" The boy answered kicking his legs back and forth as he sat on his bed, "Take as long as you need," he tacked on with a friendly smile.

' _Thank you,'_ He spoke grateful, this boy helped him with so much, had done so much for him, he had to find some way in which to repay the kindness the boy had given so freely.

"You're welcome, oh! If you didn't know yet, my name is Sora!"

Ventus chuckled in good nature, ' _Nice to meet you Sora, my friends call me Ven.'_


	2. Chapter 2

2 chapters in one day? Yes you got that right! We just kinda got into a really good binge write on this!  
So I hope you all enjoy!

* * *

 **Ch.2**

Sora sighed as he sat at one of classroom tables, his face pressed against the surface. He sat by himself since Riku wasn't in the same class as him, in fact he was a whole grade level above him. Sora frowned a little, " _Why do I gotta be a year younger...I wanna be in the same class with Riku."_ It also didn't help that really know the other kids that well, otherwise the day may not have been that lonely.

' _You should just go talk with them! Your such a cute kid how can anyone not want to be your friend_ ' Ventus's voice spoke to him.

"But what if they don't like me?" Sora asked aloud with a small frown. A boy nearby him shot him a confused glance.

' _There is no way they could not like you,_ ' Ventus said confidently.

"Alright… if you say so." Sora replied a nervous tilt in his voice.

"Hey who are you talking to?" the boy who was nearby asked, Sora didn't remember his name.

Sora gave a large grin as he replied, "I'm talking to Ventus!"

The boy frowned wrinkling his nose, "My mommy said anyone who talks to themselves is crazy." the kid said before walking away.

An ache formed in his heart, "I don't understand…"

' _Just ignore him, he doesn't understand what he is saying,_ ' Ven told him with a gentle voice.

"But what do I do then?" Sora asked, a little more quietly this time.

' _You keep trying to make friends, sometimes it takes some time, but always remember to be true to yourself, don't make a friendship based on lies._ '

"Thanks Ven, you always know what to say," Sora said as a smile formed across his face.

' _It's no problem, now want to go try again?'_

"Sure okay!"

* * *

"Why would we want to play with you?" one boy asked.

"Yeah you're weird," another one added. "You are always talking to yourself.

"But I'm not talking to myself! I'm talking to Ventus," Sora retorted, as he frowned at the group of children in from of him who were playing on a section of the playground.

"Who's Ventus?" one girl asked.

"I've never seen a Ventus."

"You're just making things up." Another accused.

"No I'm not. I talk to Ventus all the time, he is real!" Sora tried to explain, but the children didn't seem to believe him.

"If he is real, where is he?"

"He's not your imaginary friend is he?" one boy laughed.

Sora quickly shook his head, "No he isn't! I can't see him...but I can hear him in my head."

The children stared long and hard at Sora, analyzing and judging him with harsh eyes. Their judgmental glares made Sora feel worried and uneasy.

"Rin was right, you are crazy," one of the boys finally said. "Come on guys, let's go play somewhere else." With that the group of children walked off, not saying another word to Sora.

Sora sighed heavily as he walked away from the playground and over towards some trees in the forest that surrounded the park. He slumped down and leaned against the tree, wrapping his arms around his knees and pulling to his chest, resting his chin on them. It was another failed attempt at trying to make friends.

"It's too hard Ven…" Sora mumbled. "No one but you and Riku want to be my friend…"

' _You just have to keep trying, it may take awhile but you will find another person who wants to be your friend. You can't give up._ '

"But Rin told everyone that I am crazy...they all think I am crazy and weird..." Sora replied. "I'm not though...right Ven?" His voice trembled a slight bit as he asked.

' _No you're not, they just don't understand._ ' he said his voice tinged with awkwardness. Ventus quietly sighed to himself, he probably could have said that better, but he really didn't know how to comfort the child better.

"But then how do I get them to understand. Everyday I try telling them...but they don't listen. Why…. Why am I different from everyone else?" Sora's eyes had now begun to fill with tears as he hugged his legs tighter.

' _You're special… and that's not a bad thing. You helped me Sora, and I just know you're destined for great things… I can feel it in my heart.'_ Ventus murmured trying to send Sora a comforting feeling, he wanted to wrap his arms around the boy and cuddle him and be there, but he couldn't. He was just a voice in Sora's head.

Sora sniffled a little as he wiped away his tears, "T-Thanks Ven. You always know what to say."

* * *

And that ends another sweet little chapter here. We got SO much more for this, so I hope you all enjoy and we will see you next time!


	3. Chapter 3

3 chapters in one day!? Cause why not and what is life? Lol

Yeah we really worked through this, it just kept coming and stuff. I hope you all have been enjoying! Now let's get to the chapter!

* * *

 **Ch.3**

Sora was on the island with Riku, his dad had taken him and Riku there and then went of to go lay around and relax. Currently he and Riku were racing each other. Riku of course was a running faster than Sora was, though Sora was trying his hardest to keep up.

After chasing each other around Sora stopped and sat down on the shoreline, taking deep breaths. "I think I beat you that time Riku!"

"Sure you did," Riku chuckled as he sat down next to Sora.

"I did too beat you!" Sora childishly retorted. "I finally beat you today!"

Ventus chuckled, ' _I hate to say it but it looks to me you were just a split second behind._ '

Sora pouted as he stared down at the sand, "Awww but Veeeeen! You're supposed to be on my side!"

Riku looked at Sora quizzically, "Sora? You've mentioned this 'Ven' before...are you sure you aren't making him up?"

Sora tensed up, forming his hands into fists. He averted his eyes away from Riku's, "No...I'm not. Ven is real...it's just that..." Sora trailed off.

"What do you mean?" Riku asked, tilting his head to the side.

"He is real! I may only be able to hear him in my head, but I know he is real!" Sora suddenly shouted, turning back to look at Riku. His eyes wide and worrisome, "You...You believe me right? You don't think I am weird... do you?"

Riku looked at his friend for a moment before he smiled, "If you say he is real, then I believe you. You may be weird, but that's what makes you… well you. It's a good weird." Riku said in cheerful tone.

Sora beamed happily and threw his arms around Riku and knocks him down onto the sand, "Thank you! Thank you so much" Sora cried out happily glad that Riku believed him.

Riku smiled again as he returned the hug, "You're welcome."

Inside of Sora's heart Ventus was smiling to himself.

"But Sora," Riku said as the boys sat up after their hug, "Do you even know where Ven came from? And why he is in your head?"

"Remember when you told me that maybe someone was crying and that I should open my heart and listen?"

"That was like…" Riku paused as he thought for a moment, "A few...months ago right?"

"Yeah… when I did Ventus was the one who came, and I helped him… and now he's helping me!" Sora said with a bright grin.

"So you did actually help someone, that's just like you," Riku replied as he smiled again.

' _See, there was nothing to worry about…_ ' Ventus spoke gently.

Sora smiled at both Riku and Ven's words, happy that there were people who liked him. "Thanks again."

"If you said you opened your heart and listened to who was out there, does that mean Ven is from the outside world?"

"I don't know… I never asked him."

Ventus paused briefly he had a faint memory of someone speaking… something about not revealing the existence of other worlds to people who didn't know, but this was Sora, he just couldn't lie to the boy… ' _Yes, I am from another world_ '

Sora repeated this to Riku. "Yeah, he says he is."

"Can he tell you anything about the world? What's it like?" Riku asked, getting more curious.

Ventus frowned trying to remember what it was like, ' _I'm sorry, I can't really remember much, bits and pieces… the feeling of excitement and wonder mostly.'_

"Aw you don't remember Ven? That's sad…" Sora said as he sighed a little.

' _It's fine, I will remember one day, and when I do… I promise I'll tell you all about it._ '

"Okay! Thanks Ven," Sora replied.

"What did he say?" Riku asked.

"He said he'll tell me when he remembers. I hope you remember soon Ven," Sora said as he smiled.

* * *

Sora was at the park playing while waiting for Riku to finish up school. He was hiding underneath a tree, Riku told him to wait for him here… but, sometimes Rin would find him.

Rin was a bully, that's what Ventus called him, he was always insulting him and calling him crazy.

It hurt.

It hurt and Sora didn't know what to do.

* * *

Sora fell backwards and winced in pain as Rin shoved him to the ground. "Stay away from me," Rin grumbled. "I said it before you're crazy, so I don't want to talk to you."

"But I didn't even come near you!"

"Still you are weird! Always talking to yourself. You're not normal. You're such a _freak_!"

Sora flinched backwards his heart twinging in pain.

Rin and his friends left Sora, they left him sitting on the ground all alone ' _Why haven't you told someone…?_ ' Ventus asked in a worried tone of voice.

"I don't want to worry anyone else…" Sora mumbled staring at the ground with his hands clenched into fists.

" _Why?_ " Sora questioned sadley. " _Why are they so mean?_ "

There was no response.

* * *

"Freak!" Rin taunted again as he shoved Sora back.

"Leave me alone Rin…" Sora muttered slowly trying to back away.

"Why should I? No one likes you. You're just a weird loser who talks to no one." Rin said sneering his brown eyes narrowed. "Your just a little _freak_ who everyone hates!"

Sora flinched again and felt his anger starting to rise, "I'm not a loser though! I'm not! You're wrong!"

"Yes you are your a friendless idiot!" A girl said from behind Rin.

"I do have friends though! Riku is my friend...and Ventus is too!" Sora replied back, the tears beginning to swell up in his eyes.

"Oh yeah Riku's only friends with you because he pities you! And Ventus isn't real you _freak,_ get it through your head!" Rin said shoving Sora again who stumbled back a couple steps.

Sora growled as his anger boiled over and he stepped forward shouting, "Stop! Just stop it! I'M NOT A FREAK!" He screamed out, tears coming down his face as he shoved Rin as hard as he could, immediately running away to his home right after doing so.

Ventus was about to comfort Sora when a cold, uneasy feeling washed over him, something was wrong…

* * *

Aaand cliffhanger!

Oh what could be happening? What could be wrong? Can you guys figure it out? XD

Well you will all see next time! Hope you all enjoyed!


	4. Chapter 4

Okay! So we now got chapter 4 for you all!

Thanks to everyone who has been reading this so far, **TheDeadGirlRisen** and I hope you all have been enjoying it!

Now let's get to the chapter!

* * *

 **Ch.4**

' _Hey... are you okay?_ ' Ventus asked Sora worried.

"It hurts Ven… my heart hurts so much… why does it hurt?" Sora asked as he buried his face into his hands. The tears were still streaming down his face. "It won't stop hurting…"

Ventus was quite for a moment before he said softly, ' _That is what anger does… it may burn away the pain briefly.. But it leads to an even greater pain in the end. You have to try and ignore them._ '

' _ **You're not going to actually fall for that emotional drivel are you?**_ ' Another voice asked with a sneering tone filled with maliciousness in it.

Ventus gasped as Sora looked up surprised at hearing another voice, but looking around he saw no one.

' _Vanitas!?_ ' Ventus shouted, with a mixture of surprise, shock, fear and a hint of anger to his voice. But after he said that he wondered why he felt the way he did. Hearing his voice again was never something Ventus ever expected.

' _ **Idiot, who else could it be?**_ ' Was the sneered response.

Sora bit his lip confusion pushing away his earlier thoughts, "Who are you?"

' _ **That pathetic other half of mine has already said my name… or do you not have enough of a memory to recall what was said less than a minute ago**_ '

Sora hunched into himself as he pouted at being insulted "So… your name is Vanitas then?"

' _ **So you can rub two brain cells together. Congratulations**_ '

Sora smiled at the " _compliment_ ", completely oblivious to the obvious sarcasm in Vanitas's voice.

' _How are you even here Vanitas?_ ' Ventus demanded.

' _ **The same way your here, obviously,**_ ' came the quick reply from Vanitas.

' _So you don't know either,_ ' Ventus deadpanned

' _ **Tch, course I know!'**_

' _Oh? Then please tell me,' Ventus asked._

' _ **Well it's… it's.. Ah why should I bother telling someone like you,**_ ' Vanitas grumbled.

' _So you actually don't know then._ ' Ventus spoke.

"Are you two brothers?" Sora asked, finally speaking up.

' _ **No!**_ '

' _Yes.'_

' _ **Why would you ever say we are brothers?! We are not brothers!**_ ' Vanitas growled.

"Why are you so grumpy Vani?"

Ventus started laughed as he heard the sound of Vanitas spluttering.

' _ **What? What did you just call me?**_ ' Vanitas growled.

"I called you Vani! Just like I call Ventus, Ven!" Sora cheered excitedly. If Ventus had a body he would be doubled over in laughter.

"Sora… are you okay? I saw you running away from the school when I got out from class. Why didn't you wait for me?" Riku's voice came through as he opened the door to Sora's room. He found Sora sitting on edge of his bed.

' _ **Who is this boy? He looks pathetic.**_ ' Vanitas questioned with a sneer.

"Huh? Oh this is Riku my best friend! Riku, Ven has a brother named Vanitas, but I'm calling him Vani!" Sora said with a smile.

Riku blinked in confusion for a moment, "You mean there are two voices now talking to you?"

' _ **Why did you tell this child about me?**_ '

"Riku's my best friend of course I would tell him! And yes! Though Vani is grumpy…"

"But how did uh... Vani even get there?" Riku asked as he crossed his arms.

Sora gave a shrug, "I dunno."

' _ **Don't call me Vani!**_ ' Vanitas growled out.

' _Keep calling him Vani, he likes it, he's just being his grouchy self about it_ ' Ventus said with a giggle. Ventus knew that having Vanitas here was not good at all and that his other half would cause a lot of problems… but on the other hand this was just way too funny. There was just something… amusing about seeing Vanitas getting all riled up over little children and nicknames.

"When did Vani show up?"

"Just now!" Sora said with wide blue eyes, ignoring the growl that came from Vanitas.

"Huh… I am still surprised how you can be so calm through all of this," Riku stated.

"Why wouldn't I be calm?"

' _ **You shouldn't even be bothering with this brat**_ ' Vanitas muttered.

' _I think that it's wonderful Sora has friends he can count on. Maybe you can learn from Sora on how to make some._ '

Sora blinked tilting his head, "Does that mean Vani doesn't have any friends?"

' _ **I don't need any friends, friends make you weak and hold you back**_ ' Vanitas snarled.

' _No, Vani doesn't have any friends.'_ Ventus replied in a sad tone.

"Then I'll be your friend Vani!" Sora said smiling.

' _ **I don't need your friendship, brat**_ ' Vanitas scowled.

Sora's face fell.

' _Well that's okay… you want to know why Sora?_ '

"Why?" Sora asked sniffling a bit.

Ventus knew what he was about to do could probably end up for the worse in the long run, but at this moment it was simply to good of an opportunity to pass up. ' _Because since were in your heart that means were practically family, me and Vani can be your brother's Sora. And even if Vani won't admit it and be grumpy all the time, he will see you as family too.'_

"Really?" Sora said with a bright grin.

' _ **No absolutely not. What do you think you are trying to accomplish here, idiot?**_ ' Vanitas demanded.

"Sora… what's going on?" Riku asked his head tilted to the side and his eyebrows were furrowed together.

"Ven, Vani and me are now brothers!" Sora told him cheerfully.

' _ **You are too cheerful.**_ ' Vanitas hissed in annoyance.

"That's...great." Riku said lacklusterly.

"You still believe me right?" Sora asked Riku.

"Of course," Riku replied.

"And you promise you still won't tell my mom, dad, or anyone else?" Sora asked with a puppy dog look.

Riku closed his eyes, nodded and genuinely smiled, "Yeah, I promise."

* * *

' _Good, Sora's asleep…_ ' Ventus spoke up, once he could tell Sora was fast sleep With him being asleep, Ventus and Vanitas were now able to talk freely without having Sora hear them. Though their heart was within Sora's, they didn't necessarily need to sleep when Sora's heart rested. Eventually though they would end up going into what they could call a sleep, for being just a heart within Sora, but for now they had their chance to talk without Sora questioning everything. Ventus had figured this all out from all the days spent with Sora since he awoke. ' _Now can you tell me exactly how you got here, what you remember and anything else you might know._

' _ **And why should I tell you anything?**_ '

' _We are both stuck here together...and I can hardly remember anything before waking here. If you know something by chance maybe we can figure out a way to return to our body...or something like that.'_

' _ **Hmpf.**_ ' Vanitas scoffed and was silent, for a moment Ventus though the other wasn't going to answer. ' _ **I was floating in the darkness at rest, when I could feel these negative emotions coming… and the word freak, it was being called out over and over again. And then there was this anger and I awoke in this brat's heart,**_ ' Vanitas replied with a growl.

' _Well my...um… our heart is resting within Sora's, so maybe there is a connection between his emotions and ours,"_ Ventus said thoughtfully. Reluctantly he added, ' _There is this group of kids… they bully him, and today Sora lashed out at them. That could have been what awakened you..._ '

' _ **So maybe this boy isn't as worthless as you are,**_ ' Vanitas said, a smirk in his voice as Ventus's dark other chuckled maliciously. ' _ **Perhaps your right and I should… be a 'good' older brother to the brat.**_ '

' _No!'_ Ventus said, raising his voice. ' _Don't you do anything to bother or hurt Sora! If it weren't for him...well...I don't think we would have made it…"_

' _ **Of course,**_ ' Vanitas agreed, ' _ **I won't hurt him… I believe I heard that older brothers are suppose to give advice are they not?**_ ' The dark haired boy asked in a silky voice.

' _Just because you are stuck here with me like this...doesn't mean I trust you. I may not remember much from before, but I remember everything about you.'_

' _ **Are you sure you remember everything about me?**_ ' Vanitas asked his voice portraying an innocence he didn't have.

If Ventus was in his own body, he knew he would be narrowing his eyes with frustration, but alas he was still just a voice as of now. ' _Yes...So don't try anything funny Vanitas."_

' _ **I have never once been accused of being funny,**_ ' Vanitas said blandly.

Ventus let out a long sigh, ' _This is going to feel much longer than it is…'_

* * *

So yeah we now got Vanitas thrown into the mix here, oh boy oh boy!

Well that is all we got for this time, hope to see you guys in the next chapter!


	5. Chapter 5

Hello everyone and welcome back! We got another great chapter of this interesting story idea!

Hope you all enjoy!

* * *

 **Ch.5**

Sora sat at one of the tables at school, swinging his legs back and forth as he cheerfully hummed to himself. It was freetime in his class and he felt like drawing, though his drawings weren't the best, he still was enjoying his time doodling and everything. It had been a few weeks since Vanitas had joined them and the grouchy boy didn't talk most of the time, but that was alright.

"Hey Ven? Vani? Do you guys remember what you look like?" Sora suddenly asked, keeping his voice a little quieter now.

' _Yeah,"_ Ventus said nonchalantly without giving it a second thought. ' _Why do you want to know?'_

"I wanna draw you guys," Sora replied.

' _Thanks Sora. Well I have...uh…'_ Ventus actually found himself unable to answer. He tried to recall his memories of what he looked like, but nothing came to his mind. He tried to think harder on it, but only grew more frustration at the result of nothing. ' _That's odd… I can't… remember…'_

' _ **Ventus looks like a spiky golden haired idiot who's always smiling**_ ' Vanitas said snidely.

' _Wait! How come you can remember what I look like, but I can't…'_ Ventus asked.

' _ **Of course, it's because I'm better than you.**_ '

Ventus huffed in annoyance, ' _Well you have spiky black hair that sticks out everywhere and...'_ Ventus trailed off as a realization came to mind. _'Wait a minute...how come I didn't see this before?'_ Ventus hummed as he thought for a moment.

"What? What is it Ven?" Sora asked, getting curious.

 _'I can't believe I didn't notice it before...but now that I think about it...it makes sense,'_ Ventus said, unintentionally ignoring Sora's question.

' _ **What are you trying to say?**_ ' Vanitas snapped impatiently.

' _Vanitas you don't remember what you look like either, right?"_ Ventus asked.

Vanitas grunted an answer not willing to actually admit that Ventus was correct.

' _I remember though what you look like. I remember clearly...I recall when you took off that mask of yours and revealed your face to me. I didn't think of it 'till now, but now that I think about it, your face looked like an older Sora. But you had black hair and golden eyes.'_

Ventus didn't hear anything from Vanitas, but he could almost feel Vanitas's confusion. Or maybe he was just reflecting his own confusion onto Vanitas. Either way why did Sora look like Vanitas?

"What?" Sora asked again, trying to get the attention of the two 'brothers'. "I don't understand…"

' _I don't really understand either Sora. But maybe...hmm just maybe it has something to do the first time our hearts connected. It's just a guess, but it sounds right,'_ Ventus replied.

' _ **Are you trying to say… that I got my looks based on this brat?**_ ' Vanitas asked his voice changing to a more gravely demonic voice filled with rage and anger.

' _I believe so...You don't recall anything about your appearance from before? Nothing at all that could help this thought?"_ Ventus asked.

' _ **Nothing.**_ ' Vanitas hissed, ' _ **I had no appearance… I was a shadow of you… of your darkness. I had nothing to call my own.**_ ' He continued his voice filled with rage and hatred yet it was just barely above a whisper. ' _ **And then one day I had a face.. Something I could call my own,**_ ' He growled in anger, ' _ **How would you like it if the only thing you could call your own was taken away from you?**_ '

Ventus wanted to say something, but he had no idea what he could even say to that. He never once before had given any thoughts to what Vanitas had gone through, he only knew the trouble he had caused and him wanting to become one again. Ventus actually found himself feeling a little sad for Vanitas. Maybe...maybe if he had known about what had happened to Vanitas before, things could have been different and things wouldn't have had to end the way they did.

"Even if we look alike Vani, you are still you. Ven said you have black hair, and I have brown hair. So that means we are different, and so you are still yourself," Sora chimed in happily.

' _ **The kid is definitely better than you,**_ ' Vanitas spoke snidely

Ventus paused for a moment, he still had no idea what he could say to Vanitas after all that. There was so many thoughts and questions formulating now, but it didn't feel like the right time to ask anything. Instead Ventus tried to get things back on topic, ' _Well Sora, you heard what we look like, now you can draw us.'_

"Yay! Okay!" Sora said as he went back to focusing on his drawings.

Sora continued to work on his drawings, trying his best to draw what he thought Ventus and Vanitas looked like, based on all the info the two could give him. He was just drawing stick figure bodies with overly large heads, but he tried to add all the detail he could. He was trying his best and enjoying every moment of it. And even though his artistic skills were not the greatest, Ventus could tell that Sora was putting all his heart into the drawing. Vanitas on the other hand, had the urge to make some rude or snarky comment at Sora's poor attempt at drawing them, he just didn't have the proper incentive...yet.

' _Your doing a really good job Sora!_ ' Ventus encouraged cheerfully.

"What do you think Vani?" Sora asked pointing at his rendition of Vanitas.

Vanitas was sorely tempted to insult the crude piece of work, but he could feel that Ventus was going to rant at him if he did so and so biting back the first remark he finally settled on, ' _ **It… is not the worst thing I have seen.**_ '

Sora's smiled his usually bright smile, "Thanks Vani."

"Who's Vani?" A rude voice interrupted.

Sora turned to see none other than Rin standing next to the table. All that cheerful happiness went away and Sora felt that same pain in his chest again. Almost immediately he covered up the drawing he had been working so hard on. He knew Rin was here to insult him again… To bully him again… He just had a feeling Rin would insult his drawing, he didn't want Rin to see it.

Finally he looked up at Rin and asked wearily, "What do you want Rin?"

"I want to know who this 'Vani' you mentioned is… another one of your imaginary friends? Cause everyone here knows you have no real friends."

Sora fidgeted in his chair, but he didn't say a word. Sora only looked away from Rin while the stinging pain in his heart grew again.

' _ **Are you just going to take this? Like some kind of wimp?!**_ ' Vanitas demanded in a snarl, ' _ **If he was saying this to me I would-**_ '

' _LALALALALALALALALALALALA_ ' Ventus started chanting really loudly until Vanitas stopped talking, ' _Don't listen to Vanitas, you wouldn't want to be a grouch like him right? Just ignore them, that makes you the better person.'_

"Hey _freak!_ Your not even listening to me are you? Your gonna pay for that after class," Rin hissed as the teacher came in and he went to his seat, which thankfully was on the other side of the classroom.

Sora had tensed up from Rin's words again. It really hurt him, it felt as if his heart was burning and being twisted. He didn't like his feeling at all. He knew though that the teacher would be starting their next lesson or activity soon, so he couldn't ask Ventus for help on what to do. The pain lingered throughout the rest of the day, but at the end when Sora was packing up his stuff he took a look at his drawing again. His drawing of Ventus and Vanitas. Seeing his drawing brought a smile to his face once more.

He walked out of the school with his drawing, clutching it protectively to his chest. He was on cloud nine as he started walking quickly to where Riku's house was. He could wait there for his best friend to show up and then he could show him the drawing he did. He had made a plan with Riku to meet up with him there after school from now on, that way Sora wouldn't have to wait at school and have the chance of Rin or anyone else bothering him.

Sora looked up as a shadow came in front of him and his heart skipped a beat as he saw Rin standing in front of him, before Sora was fully aware of what was going on, his drawing was ripped out of his hands and Rin standing in front an ugly smirk on his face as he held it in his hand.

"Is this what you were drawing this morning this pathetic artwork… are these supposed to be your imaginary friends? A black haired idiot where a stupid looking suit, and a blonde haired thing that looks like its more girl than guy with a stupid looking grin on her face"

"Give it back Rin! It's mine!" Sora shouted as he tried to snatch the drawing back from Rin, but Rin just stepped away.

' _ **I can honestly say I'm conflicted**_ ' Vanitas stated with a chuckle, ' _ **I want to skin this guy alive, but I also want to thank him for this wonderful insult, and I can just see it now you do look quite feminine Ventus.**_ '

' _This is not the time for that Vanitas,"_ Ventus hissed. He was concerned, frustrated, and who knows what else. This was not a good situation right now with Sora being half way from school and Riku's house. It would still be a little bit before Riku would even show up, and Ventus knew that Rin wasn't going to leave Sora alone. He tried to think of words to say, but everything was just a blur, everything was happening to fast for him to say anything helpful.

"You really are pathetic, having to make up imaginary friends because no one wants to be around you, I bet even your own parents don't want you that they think your just mistake."

Sora's eyes went wide as he felt his hands tremble, "N-No….stop it Rin. S-Stop...just give me back my drawing!" He was trying his very best to hold back his tears, but they already had started to fall.

"What can you do about it, cry baby, your just a pathetic loser whose destined to end up lying in a ditch on the side of the road amounting to nothing," The boy, who was the eldest of the Sora's kindergarten class, taunted.

"I am NOT a cry baby!" Sora shouted as the tears continued to fall down his face.

"Oh yeah than why are you crying, _freak?_ "

Sora balled up his hands into fists, "Stop it! Stop it! You're so mean! Just stop! I just want my drawing back! Please!"

"N. O. Can you even spell yet, you're probably too dumb to even know how to spell properly, I just spelled out no," Rin said viciously as he started shredding the drawings into tiny pieces.

"NO!" Sora shouted as he felt his heart burning again. It felt so much worse than any of the other times from before. Sora want to grab the scraps, he wanted to hurt Rin for destroying his drawing, but he just couldn't. All the strength in his legs gave out as he drop to the ground and cried. He was sobbing and sobbing, not even noticing the sound of running footsteps getting closer.

' _How could someone so young be so cruel…?_ ' Ventus whispered out before sending out as many comforting feelings as he could to the distraught boy.

"Sora!" an incoming voice yelled. Sora turned slightly and through his blurry tear-filled eyes he could see that it was Riku. "Sora! Are you okay?" Riku looked over and saw Rin standing just a few feet away, dropping the paper scraps to the ground. "Hey! What did you do to Sora?!"

Rin didn't bother answering, he instead took off running. Riku looked at Rin running off before turning his attention back to Sora, "Sora? Come on Sora, are you okay?" Riku kneeled down next to Sora, who was still sobbing uncontrollably.

Sora slowly shook his head between his his sobs, the tears wouldn't stop coming and his heart wouldn't stop hurting. He didn't want any of this, but it wouldn't leave him. Without warning he felt himself being pulling into an embrace.

"Whatever Rin said to you, he's lying. He is just a mean bully," Riku said trying to comfort his best friend.

"B-But…" Sora started to say between his heavy and rapid breaths,"he r-ruined my d-drawing...he said mean things…"

"Sora we should tell your mom or dad about this, they'll know what to do."

"B-But…." Sora started again, but he didn't want to try to finish his thoughts.

"We don't have to tell them about Ventus and Vanitas okay? We just tell them that Rin is bothering you." Riku said as he slowly pulled back from his hug and tried to help Sora stand up.

Sora slowly nodded, but he still feared what would happen. Rin always went around telling the other kids that Sora was crazy. He would totally tell the adults if he asked why he was bullying Sora, right? Sora could feel his heart rate increase again, he was hating every moment of this. All of Rin's words still lingered deep in his head. As he slowly stood up he caught a glimpse of the shreds of his drawing, blowing away in the wind.

"I… I hate being d-different…" Sora muttered out loud.

Riku looked at Sora with surprise, "What… Sora… Why would you say that?"

"I'm different…'cause I am different everything thinks I am weird or crazy…"

"Don't listen to them Sora," Riku answered as they slowly started to walk.

"But Rin says it all the t-time," Sora said as he sniffled. The tears were still coming down his face, but he had stopped sobbing at least. "He calls me...a freak."

Rik frowned, "I'm sorry he says that to you, but you aren't a freak. You're my best friend."

"Thanks Riku…" Sora said, trying to smile a little. It did comfort him to know Riku was still his friend. It made his heart feel a little better inside, but it didn't completely remove all that horrid pain.

"That's what friends are for, I'll always be here for you Sora, no matter what." Riku said giving Sora another hug.

' _Riku is a great friend… he reminds me of one of my friends…_ '

"Will telling my parents really help? Won't they just worry more…?" Sora asked out loud not knowing who he meant to ask, Riku… or Ven.

"Parents always seem to know what to do with this kinda stuff," Riku answered.

* * *

Woo, so that was a longer chapter than usually, but I hope you all enjoyed it. We're building a lot up here and have so much more for this story.

See you guys next chapter!


	6. Chapter 6

Welcome back to another chapter!

First I wanna quickly say, thank you so much to everyone who has been reading this story. I didn't expect this story to gain a lot of attention so quickly. So thank you everyone who has read, followed, favorited, reviewed! I am happy you all are enjoying this story! Now on with the chapter!

* * *

 **Ch.6**

"Can we talk?" Riku asked. As Sora's parents turned towards them the brown-haired boy hid himself behind Riku. His hands were twisting nervously and he had this heavy feeling in his gut, like he had lied to his parents and they had caught him. A few tears were still coming out of his eyes and his breathing was heavy.

"Of course, what is it?" His mom asked in a gentle voice a note of worry as she saw Sora.

Riku turned and gave a gentle smile and a nod trying to get him to tell them. Sora just shook his head though and continued to hide behind Riku as he whispered, "Can you tell them… please?" his eyes were wide and watery and he bit his bottom lip making the infamous puppy dog face.

"There is a kid in Sora's class that has been really mean to him. Pushing him around and calling him names and stuff. He even tore up one of Sora's drawing today."

"It was going to be a present for you Riku," Sora whispered quietly.

"How long has this been going on for Sora?" his mother asked in a kind, and caring voice.

Sora thought on it for a moment, "A couple of months..." He muttered with his head ducked in shame.

"Sora, sweetie… why not come to us when this first started?"

Sora mumbled his response.

His dad frowned slightly as he gently asked, "What was that?"

The boy had tears trailing down his face as he mumbled a bit louder, "I didn't want you to think I was a freak too."

Sora's parents eyes both widened in surprise, a little sadness and worry crossed over their faces. "Oh Sora, we would never think that of you!" Sora's mother said.

"You're our precious little boy," Sora's father added.

"B-but R-rin said you didn't want me" Sora admitted sobbing, "He said that I-I was just a-a pathetic l-loser who's destined to end up l-lying in a ditch on the side of the road amounting to nothing…" he shuffled away from Riku a bit his arms wrapped around himself as he shuddered.

Immediately Sora's parents wrapped their arms around him, holding him in a tight embrace. Sora's father placed one hand on top of Sora's head, ruffling the boy's brown hair slightly, "That isn't true Sora. You are such a wonderful and bright young boy."

"We just know you're destined for great things!" Sora's mom said with a bright smile. As she gently rubbed the distraught boys back.

Sora sniffled again as a few tears streamed from his face, though these didn't feel like sad tears. These tears felt happier for his parents did actually care for him and loved him very much. Sora smiled as he wrapped his arms around his parents, returning the hug.

Riku shuffled awkwardly before a female hand grabbed him and pulled him into the family hug. "And thank you Riku, we're glad that Sora has such a wonderful friend such as you that he can count on to help him." Sora's mother said smiling at the silver haired boy.

* * *

' _Hey, are you okay?_ ' Ventus asked Sora who was laying on his bed curled up his cheeks still puffy from his tears and his eyes were red from all of the crying he had been doing.

Sora did not respond at all, he just continued to lay quietly on his bed, hugging a little, orange fox plush tightly in his arms.

' _I'm so proud of you Sora,_ ' Ventus said wishing he could give the child a hug. He could feel Vanitas watching but not saying anything still.

Sora remained quiet. Ventus frowned to himself, worried about Sora's lack of response.

' _Sora, are you okay? Everything's going to be better now, your parents are helping,_ ' Ventus continued trying to get the boy to respond.

' _ **Would you shut up Ventus, it's obvious the boy doesn't want to talk to you,**_ ' Vanitas grumbled.

" _Why did I accept them into my own heart... If I didn't, none of this would have happened, I would be a normal boy and I would probably have more friends than just Riku…"_ Sora thought. He was only thinking it to himself, but his thoughts could be heard as clear as day to Ventus and Vanitas.

' _ **Tough luck. You did and so now your stuck with us. Deal with it,**_ ' Vanitas growled.

' _Vanitas…'_ Ventus sighed, ' _Don't make him feel any worse than he already is. You know he has had a hard day.'_

' _ **So what? Life isn't easy! If he lets such a little thing just as a few harsh words reduce him to a blubbering mess, then he's going to amount to just what that brat said he would. Nothing. So he needs to stop his whining and do something about it, not just lay around crying like a pathetic loser**_ '

Ventus sighed again, dealing with Vanitas on a regular basis was harder than he thought. Vanitas tended to speak his mind all the time, and the majority of it was usually negative in some way or form. Right now was a particular hard moment for Ventus as he couldn't always figure out the right words to say to Sora to calm him or the words to get Vanitas to back off.

"Stop it both of you!" Sora shouted in a whisper, his voice still sore and weak from crying earlier. "Stop talking already…"

' _ **What can you do about it? If I wish to say something I will, and there's nothing you can do about it.**_ '

' _Just shut up Vanitas! We should respect Sora's choice to be quiet._ ' Ventus snapped at his darker half. His worry over Sora making him more snappish than he usually was.

' _ **Oh please, like I would listen to you, you're almost as pathetic as the brat is right now! Listening to the whims of a child, could you sink any lower.**_ '

' _But he is just a child! We shouldn't pressure him too much,_ ' _Ventus retorted._

"Stop! Please… just stop talking!" Sora whimpered out.

' _ **And why should I listen to a crybaby such as yourself?**_ '

Sora didn't answer back, he only started to sniffle again, letting just a few more tears slip from his eyes. The tears continued to stream down his face as he gripped the plush even tighter and buried his face against.

Vanitas growled, ' _ **Would you just stop with the tears already! Crying is not going to get you anywhere! You need to learn to toughen up! Why do you care about what some other brat thinks!? All your doing right now is proving that stupid Rin bully correct! So stop your crying and toughen up!**_ '

Ventus wanted to respect Sora's wish to be quiet, but he could feel that Vanitas was actually trying to help the boy in his own way. ' _I think... What Vanitas is trying to say is that you shouldn't let other people's thoughts bother you. You can't have everyone like you and sometimes you need to ignore those who say mean things. Some people… some people just like being mean to others for no reason. And these people are sad, because they won't ever truly know happiness._ '

Sora wiped the tears from his face, "Is that true Vani?"

Vanitas grunted, ' _ **Basically**_ ,' he spat out annoyed.

Sora smiled a little, "Thank you Vani."

' _ **Hmpf.**_ '

Ventus paused as he could feel something coming from Vanitas's emotions… was that… embarrassment?

' _Aww does Vani have a sweet spot for little Sora?_ ' Ventus said with a teasing tone.

' _ **No, of course not!**_ ' Vanitas denied a tad to quickly.

' _You do care about somebody else! Are you sure your feeling alright?_ ' Ventus asked trying to not snicker.

' _ **What are you talking about?!**_ ' Vanitas growled.

' _Awww such a grouch Vani, lighten up._ '

Sora giggled as Vanitas replied, ' _ **Maybe you should learn not to be such an emotional fool.**_ '

Ventus continued teasing Vanitas long into the night and Sora fell asleep with a peaceful smile on his face.

* * *

And that wraps up another chapter. We still got a lot of Sora childhood to cover, so be prepared! We got so much in store!

Thank you again for reading!


	7. Chapter 7

And we are back with another chapter!

Thank you again for everyone for reading so far! It means so much to us that you guys are enjoying it!

Now enjoy the chapter!

* * *

 **Ch.7**

Sora was sitting on a chair with paper and crayons in front of him, but he didn't feel like drawing… not when he was about to have to face off against Rin and now that the teacher and his parent's would soon know the truth… after all Rin would tell them that he talked to Ven and Vani. And then what would the teacher and his parents do?

' _Don't worry so much, everything will work out in the end_.' Ven said once more sending a feeling of comfort to the boy.

' _ **Don't let the brat see any weakness in you. If he doesn't know he's effecting you then he'll stop**_ ' Vanitas grunted.

Ventus wondered to himself where Vanitas learned that from.

Sora didn't respond to them but he did stop shifting around so much. Another couple minutes passed and two woman and Rin walked in. One of the women Sora figured had to be Rin's mother, but he didn't know who the other was. The boy saw Sora there and sent him a glare.

"Alright, now Yuki here has brought it to my attention that Sora here feels as if Rin is bullying him. Rin what do you have to say for yourself." There teacher said once the others had entered the room.

"That's a lie, Sora's just a big liar! He's always lying about having this friend he calls Ven! He says that Ven is real but claims they live in his head!"

Sora flushed red, ' _ **If you tell them the truth that we exist they might think you are crazy, say this…**_ ' Vanitas whispered in his mind.

"Ven and Vani… are real to me… I know they're imaginary friends… but no one wants to be friends with me…" Sora said, repeating what Vanitas told him to say.

' _Probably for the best…_ ' Ventus reluctantly agreed with what Vanitas was doing.

The teacher and one other lady shared a brief look before the lady smiled gently, "Hi, my name is Tori, I'm the school's counselor. Sora, would you mind telling me more about these imaginary friends of yours?"

With a large grin Sora said, "Okay! Ven was the first and his full name is Ventus, he's really nice and comforts me whenever something upsets me."

"And what about this Vani?"

"His name is Vanitas, he's a bit grouchy, but I believe he is just trying to hide his heart of gold," Sora said nodding.

Vanitas spluttered, ' _ **Why you! I do not have a heart of gold.**_ '

' _I think Sora's onto something here, aww I didn't know you cared!_ ' Ventus teased.

' _ **I don't care! As soon as I find a way-**_ '

' _LALALALALALALALALALALA_ ' Ventus started chanting again drowning whatever it was that Vanitas was saying and giving Sora a small headache. They both quieted down quickly though.

His small wince did not go unnoticed by the adults. "Are you okay Sora?"

"Yeah! Vani's just being grouchy and Ven is teasing him."

"Do you see these friends of yours?"

' _ **Say that you can see us. The fools would be able to believe that rather then if we were just voices,**_ ' Vanitas instructed.

There was no argument from Ventus so Sora figured he should follow Vanitas's advice Sora nodded, "Ya, though they're more like brothers than friends"

"What do these 'brothers' of yours look like then?"

"Ven has blonde hair and bright blue eyes. Vani has black hair and gold eyes!" Sora told them cheerfully.

"Thank you Sora, now Rin can you tell me why you think Sora is a liar?"

"Cause he is! He said that the those imaginary friends of his were real!" Rin shouted glaring at Sora.

The counselor continued talking to Rin for a bit, but Sora got bored and accidently turned them out.

"Sora, I know this will be tough for you, but can you tell us what Rin said to you?"

"Rin… he constantly calls me a freak" Sora mumbled looking down at the table and the paper that was in front of him. "H-he says that I'm a friendless idiot… that everyone hates, that I'm a weird loser no one wants to talk to cause I'm crazy. When I made a drawing of Ven and Vani to show Riku he ripped it to shreds calling my artwork pathetic and that I'm dumb and that my parents think that I'm just a mistake and that I'll end up lying in a ditch on the side of a road oneday amounting to nothing," Sora said. Once he started he couldn't stop and everything Rin had ever said to him came pouring out like a flood as the tears streamed down his face even as his parents gently rubbed his back and hugged him.

The woman who, must be Rin's mom paled her eyes wide as she looked at her son in horror. Rin himself was just glaring at Sora. The teacher's hand flew to her mouth her eyes wide in shock, and the counselor's eyes were filled with sadness.

"Rin, you know saying things like that aren't nice right? How would you feel is someone said that to you."

Rin shrugged, "It's true though he is just a _freak_."

Sora whimpered as his heart twinged in another wave of pain, "It hurts…" He whispered out clutching at his shirt.

' _Just ignore it, ignore him,_ ' Ventus said gently, ' _You're not a freak._ '

' _ **Just because he doesn't see how much better you are than him at the moment… doesn't mean you're not worthy. You have me in your heart after all, so obviously you have to amount to something.**_ ' Vanitas grumbled as he could feel Ventus's emotions prodding him to offer up comfort. He didn't know why he listened, but he did and he tried to ignore the weird way his own emotions were responding.

"Rin! How dare you say something like that! I know I certainly never taught you to speak like that! Apologize this instant!"

"Why should I? I don't see you making any of the other kids apologize."

"Other kids?" The Teacher asked her voice faint.

Sora gulped as he shifted again feelin all the eyes turn to him, "Rin was the main bully.. But the other kids would join in. None of them like me since I'm just the crazy loser." He whispered out no more tears coming out since he was all cried out.

The rest of the meeting passed in a blur to Sora and as they walked out he could hear Rin's mom scolding Rin and saying that he was going to be grounded for a long time. But once everything was said and done, Sora started to feel a little better though he still feared going to school a litte. Though he knew that having Ventus and Vanitas with him would make things better.

* * *

And of course that wraps up another chapter of this story!

Let us know what you guys have been thinking! And we will see you in the next chapter.


	8. Chapter 8

And welcome back to another chapter of this story!

We are still in the Sora Childhood Arc of course, cause we need a lot of build up for how Sora acts in this AU with Ven and Vani always in his head and stuff. But I hope you all have been enjoying it!

Thank you again to everyone reading this story, it means a lot!

Now enjoy chapter 8!

* * *

 **Ch.8**

Sora and Riku were once more on the Island running and playing around it was summer break and they could relax and enjoy their time off. After the meeting with the teacher Rin no longer constantly insulted him, he only glared at him. The only downside was that even with Rin no longer bullying him none of the other kids would talk with him or be his friend.

Still he had Riku as a friend, and Ven and Vani as his older brother's. He was chasing after Riku when something caught his attention. Stopping he turned towards the beach where he could make out a figure laying on the ground. Curious he walked over and saw it was a girl with dark red hair, who looked like she was sleeping.

"Hey Riku!" Sora called out, getting the attention of his best friend. "There is a girl laying here."

Riku came running back and look at the girl, "Have you ever seen her before?" The curious boy asked noting that the redheaded girl looked to be about the same age as Sora.

Sora shook his head, "Nope, never have."

"I'll go get my dad, you wait here with her," Riku said as he took off running towards his father was.

Sora squatted down next to the girl, she had short redish hair and a white dress. "Ven? Where do you think she came from? Is she maybe from another world? Why would she be just laying here?"

' _I don't know, Sora. Maybe we should find out?_ ' Ventus suggested.

' _ **You should question her,**_ ' Vanitas spoke with a sneer.

Sora waited a moment before getting bored, he finally deciding to wake up the redheaded girl who looked his age. "Hey are you alright?" He poked her gently in the arm. Slowly her eyes fluttered open.

"Hmm…" the girl hummed as she slowly looked up to see Sora.

"Where did you come from? Who are you?" Sora asked.

"Kairi…" the girl said in a tired voice he eyes dropping to a close once again.

Seconds later Riku came running back with his father. After making sure Kairi was alright, she was brought into the police station to see if they could find any information on who she was. When Kairi was asked about where she was from, she stated that she couldn't remember, which just made the mattered more complicated. After long days of searching and trying to research about Kairi, the police ended up not finding out anything other than her name. Sora and Riku wondered if the girl they found was going to be okay. They waited days and day to hear something about her, but there was nothing to be heard.

It was the weekend now and Sora and Riku were back on the island off from the mainland. It was another day of fun and adventuring. The two ran around for a while and played with their toy swords. They clashed their swords as they play fought with one another, something that had become a regular thing for them to do.

Sora went to try and hit Riku with the wooden sword, but Riku was quick and jumped out of the way. Sora went again to try and attack, but this time Riku block the attack with his own sword. The two held their stances as they tried to push the other back. They seemed to be at a even level at first, but slowly Riku started to push Sora back. Sora tried to hold his ground, but that was rather hard to do in the sand.

In the next moment Sora stumbled back and fell to the ground. Riku pointed his sword at Sora, indicating the end of the battle.

"And I win again," Riku said.

Sora sighed as he sat for a moment, lost in his thoughts. He had tried his best every time, but more than most of the time Riku always won. Though Sora had gotten better at lasting longer in the battle, due to helpful tips and pointers from Vanitas, it still wasn't enough. He still hadn't won against Riku yet.

"Come on Sora, you wanna go another around?" Riku asked as he held out a hand to help Sora back up.

"I don't know…" Sora muttered as he took Riku's hand and was pulled back up to his feet.

"You're getting better at least," Riku added, but Sora just shrugged.

 _'Don't give up Sora. You can do this,'_ Ventus encouraged.

 ** _'Next time you fight the brat do this…'_ **Vanitas started and told sora of a semi tricky move that would let him be able to disarm Riku.

"Okay. Let's go again," Sora said as he took his stance, ready to fight.

Riku nodded as he positioned himself as well. The two began their next battle, with their wooden swords clashing together. They struck back and forth at each other, while also dodge a few of each other's attacks. Sora thought about how Vanitas had told him to disarm Riku as he dodged another one of Riku's attacks. He then went to implement the attempt, clashing his sword against Riku's again. With all of his might he tried to twist Riku's sword out of his hands, and much to his surprise he was successful!

Riku's sword fell to the sand while Riku gave a confused glance before Sora tripped him to the ground. Sora pointed his sword at Riku as a huge grin across his face.

"I did it! I win this time!"

 _ **'Good job mini-me,'** _Vanitas praised.

 _'You did it Sora!'_ Ventus cheered.

Riku smiled at Sora's enthusiasm. "Congrats Sora."

Sora then helped Riku back up to his feet, he couldn't stop smiling though. He never had felt this good in so long. "Let's go again!"

Riku chuckled as he picked up his sword. "All right, let's do it."

Later on after they had play fought a few more times, Sora stopped near the small waterfall. There was a lot of foliage covered the area next to it, and Sora knew something was there, but they never had gone over there before.

"Hey Riku...What do you even think is even in there?" Sora asked.

"I don't know," Riku shrugged.

"Do you wanna go look?" Sora asked as he stepped closer.

"You've always been too scared to go in there, are you not scared now?" Riku asked, the slightest smug look came across his face.

Sora pouted, "I'm not scared anymore! Let's go!"

' _ **Took you long enough to stop being a scaredy cat,**_ ' Vanitas grumbled.

' _Oh hush, it's a spooky cave who knows what's in there. Could be a fearsome monster_ ' Ventus said teasingly, though that bit was lost on Sora whos eyes widened again.

Sora continued to pout, "Cut it out Ven!"

Riku tilted his head for a moment, "What did he say?"

Sora shook his head, "Nothing! He is just trying to mess with me. Let's go check out the cave now!"

The two boys walked closer to the cave entrance, a strange howling sound could be heard coming from within the cave. Riku had started to take a few steps in, but Sora stayed at the entrance.

"What's wrong Sora?" Riku said turning back to look at Sora.

"What do you think that sound is? Maybe we shouldn't go! It could be a monster!" Sora said.

' _ **Really? A monster? It's just the wind howling.**_ ' Vanitas growled.

' _Ignore Vani-boy, what kind of cave would be complete without a monster guarding the treasure it holds._ ' Ventus said with a chuckle. ' _Of course nothing could be as scary as our precious Vani!_ '

"Heh, don't tell me you are scared again," Riku teased.

Sora frowned childishly, scrunching up his nose, "You and Ven are both being meanies!"

' _ **It's a sad day when Ventus is classified as the mean one between the both of us**_ ' Vanitas muttered slightly disparagingly.

Riku laughed, "So he knows you are scared too."

"I am not scared! I can do this!" Sora shouted as he held out his wooden sword in front of him, slowly progressing further into the cave.

The two made their way through the cave tunnel until they reached a large opening. Now they were inside a cave empty cave with a little sunlight coming in from a hole at the ceiling.

"Whoa…" Riku said in awe as he looked around.

"Cool!" Sora commented.

The strange howling came through the cave again and Sora held up his sword in defense. "Where's that coming from?!"

' _Ugh oh you made the monster angry! Now it's coming to get you…_ '

"There," Riku said as he pointed up at the hole in the top of the cave. "It's the wind. That's what is making those weird monster sounds."

"Oooh. So Vani was right then!" Sora cheered, happy that it really wasn't a monster. "We can see the sky all the way from in here!"

' _ **I told you it was the wind, maybe now you'll be a bit smarter and listen to me more.**_ '

' _Hey! I was only joking around, Sora will still listen to me more than you! Right Sora?_ '

"I listen to both of you guys! Both you and Vani always know what to say!" Sora said as he smiled.

"Sometimes I really wonder what they are saying to you," Riku commented as he looked around the cave more, his eyes focusing on the strange wooden door in the far end of the cave.

"Hey Riku do you know what that is?" Sora asked.

"I don't know… looks like a door…" Riku said as he placed a hand on it, "But I don't see how to open it."

"Well this place is still cool! We should make this out secret hideout!" Sora suggested as he bounced on the balls of his heels and started running around the cave.

"You really think so?"

"Yeah! And we are the only ones who can play in here! Okay?" Sora said, not wanting anyone else here. If this was their secret hideout then he could talk to Vanitas and Ventus without fear of anybody seeing him so the only one who was allowed had to be Riku.

Riku nodded, "Yeah, okay."

Ventus thought about the door Sora had just looked at, it gave him a weird feeling that he didn't know how to explain. He thought about asking Vanitas, but he figured Vanitas wouldn't know either and also even if he did he wouldn't bother telling him.

"This is great! We have our own secret hideout!" Sora cheered as he continued to run around the room of the cave.

"We should probably be heading back though," Riku said.

"Okay, let's go!" Sora said as they started to walk out. As they did though Riku looked back at the door once more.

"Hey Sora," Riku said as they continued to walk.

"Hm? What is it?"

"When we are older, let's get away from here and see new places. We'll go on real adventures, not this kid stuff!"

"Okay Riku! But there is still a lot we can do here now though. We still gotta find out what happened with Kairi."

Later that evening the boys finally did find out what had happened to Kairi. There was no information on here anywhere, but she needed a home. So, much to a lot of people's surprise, the mayor of Destiny Islands actually adopted her into his family. Before Riku and Sora knew it they saw Kairi at their school. Not only that, but she was in Sora's class as well.

Sora sat in his usual seat next to the window, he had a few empty seats around him as the classroom was only about halfway filled even when all the kids were there. He was finally in first grade, and he was five years old. He heard the students start talking louder than usual and turned to see what had gotten their attention.

It was then he saw that it was the girl he had found on the beach, Kairi. She looked around the room at all the students before she saw him and smiled as she quickly made her way over to him.

Sora was shocked to see that she should sit next to him, "Why are you sitting next to the loser?" Rin shouted across the room seeing as that the teacher wasn't in the room.

"Because I want too," Kairi said with a smile. She then turned to Sora, "I never got your name before, what is it?"

"Oh… Um…" Sora fumbled over his words for a moment, before finally finding the right ones, "I'm Sora."

"Nice to meet you Sora," Kairi smiled

' _ **Ugh, she is way to… bright**_ ' Vanitas said a note of pain in his voice.

' _Hey Sora, This could be your chance to make another friend!_ '

' _ **Why does he need yet another person, he has that Riku brat as his friend already.**_ '

"Nice to meet you too Kairi," Sora said, ignoring Vanitas last comment.

The teacher came in and smiled as he saw the students he would be teaching throughout this next year. His eyes scanned the room and he saw that the brown haired boy, Sora, was sitting next to a girl. Last year he had been some of the biggest news, that another child, a kid named Rin who he would have to keep an eye on. It looked as though now Sora had another friend his own age. Still he had better keep an eye on them, just in case.

* * *

And that wraps up that chapter

 _ **Now a Note for the next chapters and stuff. I will now be posting a little more sparsely, as I will be going on vacation and have little wifi time. So chapters will appear when I can get the chance.**_

But we hope you have enjoyed this chapter and we will see you next time!


	9. Chapter 9

Alright we are back with another chapter!

Thank you again to everyone for reading! Glad you all are enjoying this story. Now let's get on with the chapter!

* * *

 **Ch.9**

Sora was sitting by himself at recess, about to pull out his drawing notebook. A notebook that he had started carrying around for a month or so now. When ever he got the chance he would doodle and draw various things in it. Most of the notebook was filled with drawings of him and Riku playing, with Vanitas and Ventus there as well. Slowly the pictures were getting better and improving as Ventus typically gave him advice so he could draw better.

"Whatcha doing?" Kairi asked, standing before him.

Sora blinked and looked up, holding his drawing notebook close to his chest protectively. "Nothing." He answered a bit defensively. His emotions felt conflicted. On one hand he felt like he could trust her, but on the other it was kind of like what Vanitas had said, she was bright and seemed too… Sora gave a mental sigh he couldn't think of the word that would describe her. Overall though he was still untrusting of most other kids.

"Want to play with me?" Kairi asked.

Sora hesitated for a moment before he gave a small nod. Her voice sounded friendly enough that she didn't seem like she would make fun of him or anything. Slowly Sora stood up and looked over at Kairi.

"So what do you wanna do?" Kairi asked.

Sora shrugged a little, he wasn't use to this. He wasn't use to talking to or playing with any of the other kids besides Riku. This was new for him and he didn't know what to do.

"What do you usually do during recess?" Kairi asked, taking a step closer to Sora.

Sora tensed up slightly at her approach, "I… I usually sit by myself and draw…" Sora mumbled quietly.

"What was that? I didn't hear what you said."

"I usually draw…" Sora said.

"Oh! You like to draw?" Kairi's eyes lit up with excitement, "Can I see?"

" _Should I show her my drawings?_ " Sora wondered to himself, biting his lip.

' _ **No, if you show her she will see the pictures of us and will ask who we are, you don't want her to be like the other kids, do you?**_ ' Vanitas asked in his smooth dark voice.

' _I have to agree with Vani here,_ ' Ventus added as Vanitas growled at the nickname. Vanitas hated it when Ventus called him by that nickname. With the boy who hosted them it was different, but he hated to hear Ventus call him that.

"You have to if you don't want to," Kairi said in a sweet voice.

"Thanks," Sora said quietly.

"But come on, let's go play on the playground," Kairi reached forward, grabbing onto Sora's arm and pulled him towards the playground.

Sora knew he could have resisted, but he let her pull him along. He heard the telltale sign of kids whispering coming from around him. He glanced to where it was coming from to see Rin and his group of close friends looking at him. Rin had that hateful look in his eyes and a smirk on his face, one that looked exactly like the one he had on his face when he ripped Sora's drawing up that fateful day that was now so long ago.

Sora froze as Rin started walking over, he could feel his hands begin to tremble. He wanted to run, but he remembered from the past encounters with Rin. Sora remembered that if he ran away from Rin, it would only be more painful once Rin would catch up to him.

"Sora?" Kairi asked feeling that his hand was shaking in her's even as he quickly let go.

"What do you want Rin?" Sora asked with a gulp.

"You ruined my summer vacation! My Mom was going to take us on a cruise, but then all because of you she decided that we wouldn't go!" He snarled.

Sora just continued to tremble.

"I don't know who you are, but leave us alone!" Kairi said defending Sora.

The blue eyed boy froze in shock, " _Kairi… she's defending me?_ " He wondered to himself surprised. Why would she do that for him?

"I don't know why you decided to hang around the lying loser, but if you know what's good for you, you'll stop hanging around him."

"How do I know you're not the liar? Sora seems perfectly fine to me!" She said before grabbing Sora's hands and pulling him away. The blue eyed boy didn't resist, but as he caught one last glance at Rin's face he shuddered. This was not going to be the last of Rin…

Sora and Kairi played together for the rest of recess before they were called back in. The rest of the day passed peacefully. At the end of the day Sora waved goodbye to Kairi as she was picked up by someone. Riku came over and the two started walking towards there houses, first up was Riku's. Riku's mom met them at the door with a smile, "Hello boys. Riku would you mind meeting up with Sora later to play together? I need help with something."

Riku turned to Sora with a questioning expression on his face, but Sora responded "I'll be fine Riku! I'll see you in a bit."

With that Sora waved and started heading home. "What should I do until Riku joins us?" Sora asked out loud.

' _You could continue the drawing you were working on earlier,_ ' Ventus suggested.

' _ **Or we could practice some more fighting moves, so you can finally beat that Riku brat.**_ '

' _You already had him practice yesterday,_ ' Ventus replied back.

' _ **Sora drew earlier this morning. Besides if he wants to beat the brat than he has to keep practicing.**_ '

' _It doesn't always have to be about fighting!_ '

' _ **Of course it is, how else would he get stronger…**_ ' Vanitas paused before he thought of something that, while he didn't see the use for, would probably convince Ventus to his side a bit, ' _ **Strong enough to protect those precious to him.**_ '

' _When did you start caring about protecting people?_ '

' _ **I don't, but I know you and mini-me do.**_ '

Sora pouted as he crossed his arms as Vanitas calling him 'mini-me'. Vanitas had started calling him that recently… though he had to admit it was better than being called brat all the time, now Riku was the one Vanitas called brat.

"Hello _freak_ ," Sora heard from behind him and he froze before slowly turning around begging that it was just his imagination and that Rin wasn't actually standing behind him. But alas fate seemed to hate him as the boy he dreaded was in fact standing behind him. "We didn't finish our little _chat_ from earlier," The bully said an ugly grin on his face.

' _Just ignore him, turn around and walk away._ '

' _ **Fight this weakling prove to him that you're the stronger one.**_ '

Sora was conflicted between the two, run away, or confront. This indecision cost him, as with a snarl, Rin slammed his fist into Sora's nose. "I hate you! You such a lying freak! You have these stupid imaginary friends of yours! Why do you even exist? I bet that the new girl will end up leaving you oneday. And you want to know why? Because you're just a pathetic nobody who should have never been born!"

All while Rin ranted at him, blood dripped down Sora's face. His anger built up before he snapped… and punched the boy back. Unknowing to Sora his eyes flashed to a golden-amber for a brief second before reverting to his normal blue. The two boys then began brawling.

"Stop calling me that!" Sora shouted back. "I'm not a freak! I'm not worthless! And I have friends!" He shouted at Rin as he punched him again, connecting with the boy's stomach.

"Sora! What are you doing?" A familiar voice called out and he froze. It was his mother. Slowly he stumbled backwards in a daze.

"I-I didn't mean too," He whimpered out, "I was just so angry… he punched me… and was saying all these mean things again," he continued on not being able to meet his mom's gaze.

Sora's Mom looked over at Rin and her eyes narrowed her lips pursed in distaste, "Your mom will certainly be hearing about this. Didn't you learn your lesson about bullying?" Then she went over to Sora and hugged him, "Come one sweetie, let's get you cleaned up," she said gently. They then began to walk back to the house. Once they were there Vanitas and Ventus started to speak up again.

' _ **You did a good job Sora,**_ ' Vanitas complimented.

' _No he did not, he stooped down to Rin's level!_ '

' _ **Sora defended himself! Is he not entitled to being able to protect himself? Mini-me didn't start the fight. He came out the victor, though and should be proud of himself.**_ '

' _He should have just ran, it was an unnecessary fight!_ ' Ventus protested.

Sora whimpered a bit as he sat upon the seat and his mom gently cleaned his face. "Is what I did wrong? Mommy… what should I have done… should I not have defended myself?" Sora asked quietly not knowing whether he should feel proud of himself for defending himself against Rin or guilty. His emotions were all out of whack cause he felt so many at once, pride, happiness, guilt, anger, fear, and another emotion he didn't know how to describe, it was to faint to properly tell, but it felt similar to happiness just… different.

"Oh honey, always try to defend yourself, but you should never try to hurt someone."

' _ **Hah! See even Mini-me's mom agrees with me!**_ ' Vanitas declared victoriously.

Ventus remained quiet for a moment. ' _I never said not to defend himself, but he had the option to run away and he should have taken that._ '

' _ **Run away and be a coward? Surely you know our host better than that Ven-Ven, mini-me doesn't like running away.**_ '

"Should… Should I have run away though? Would that have been better?" Sora asked.

"I know it's a tough situation, no one your age should have to go through that. But if that happens again, if that mean old Rin bothers you… you go find the closest teacher or an adult who could help you. Do you understand Sora?"

Sora looked up at his mom and slowly nodded, "Yes… I understand."

' _ **So she wants you to run away like a coward, typical,**_ ' Vanitas sneered his early exuberance gone.

' _What was it you said earlier? Hah! See even Sora's mom agrees with me!_ ' Ventus retorted.

Vanitas huffed and Sora giggled.

"Is Ven and Vani talking?" Sora's mom asked a small smile on her face though her eyes were filled with sadness.

Sora nodded, "Un-huh!"

"What are they saying?"

"Earlier you said something that agreed with what Vani was saying and he was like 'ha I win' and then you said something Ven was saying and he was parroting back what Vani said earlier," Sora answered with another giggle. "Now Vani is pouting."

' _ **I am not pouting!**_ '

Ventus's laughter ranged in his ears as he smiled happily, glad that Sora was safe at home.

* * *

And that wraps up another chapter of Sora's childhood.

Let us know what you guys think! And we will see you next chapter!

Also to those who do read some of my other stories, I am working on them, I just am hitting a bit of writers block with a lot of them. But I am trying my best to get through them.


	10. Chapter 10

Here we go with chapter 10. Posting today since I am now on vacation and wifi time is very limited. But I hope you all enjoy!

* * *

 **Ch.10**

Sora smiled as he sat back against one of the cool cave walls Riku sitting across from him. The school year was almost up and soon it would be summer vacation. "Has Rin been giving you any troubles lately?" Riku asked.

Sora shook his head, "You know how he is, he bullies me, I tell my mom and he gets in trouble. Then after a bit, he bullies me again. Though he's been extra mean lately since all of his old friends left him."

"And how are Ven and Vani doing?" Riku asked, still being the only one who truly knew about Sora's situation. Not only did he know the truth, but he also actually believed him. By this point Riku had gotten use to Sora 'talking to himself' and even would sometimes even ask questions to Ventus or Vanitas.

"Ven and Vani are doing great though… Ven has seemed a bit sad lately."

"Oh? Why's that?" Riku asked out of curiosity.

' _I'm not sad_!' Ventus protested.

' _ **Yes you are, idiot. Even I can see that.**_ '

"I don't know...He won't say…" Sora answered Riku.

"Hmm, well I hope he feels better soon," Riku said as he closed his eyes. "Oh also, about Kairi. We have hung out with her a lot after school… so I was thinking maybe we could invite her to join us on the island here?"

"You think so? Even show her our secret hideout?" Sora asked. "But I thought it would just be our secret place…"

"Kairi is our new friend isn't she? She has even stood up to Rin before. It only seems right to let her join us."

"But…" Sora looked down at the ground, "But what about Ven and Vani? You are the only one who knows the truth about them..."

' _ **We can not let another person know about us! Especially the little princess,**_ ' Vanitas hissed. Sora frowned at Vanitas's nickname for Kairi. He had taken to calling her that and when Sora asked why Vanitas said he didn't know why, just that he it felt right to call her that.

' _I don't know… Kairi is Sora's friend, I think we should trust her, she seems like the nice and understand sort._ '

"Are you sure Ven? You really think she would understand? I… I don't know if I wanna tell her...I don't want her to see me as…" Sora paused before he forced the words from his mouth. "A freak…"

' _ **You are not a freak!**_ ' Vanitas hissed angrily, ' _ **If I ever get out of here-**_ '

' _AAANNNDDD I think he gets the point._ ' Ventus said cutting of Vanitas.

Sora pouted, Ventus was always doing that cutting Vanitas off whenever he seemed to be particularly angry. He really wanted to know what Vanitas was trying to say!

"Sora, you know you aren't a freak!" Riku claimed. "You know Rin just said that to mess with your head!"

"Thanks guys," Sora said, forming a small smile.

"Also if I figure what Ven must have said to you, I agree. I think Kairi would understand," Riku added.

"Alright… if you say so."

* * *

Finally it was summer and the two boys decided to enact their plan. They found Kairi at the park waiting for them. "Hey Kairi!" Sora shouted waving her over. She grinned and ran over to them.

"Hi Sora, Riku," Kairi said as she got closer to them. "What's up?"

"Nothing much would you like to come with us to a special place?" Sora asked, a blank look on his face that Vanitas had taught him for this purpose.

"A special place?" Kairi asked, tilting her head to the side.

"Yeah, a really cool secret place," Riku added his own face blank like Sora's, the two boys had spent a couple days practicing, but it was kind of fun to do.

"I don't understand…" Kairi said, trying to make sense of the odd faces Sora and Riku were making.

The two boys spoke at once, "Come with us Kairi, let us show you the coolest place ever."

"But where will we be going?"

"To the island nearby."

"Oh! The large island? Really?" Kairi jumped up and down with excitement.

* * *

The trio were finally on the island and Riku and Sora shared a glance before they ran off towards the secret hideout.

"Hey! Where are you going?!" Kairi called out before running after the two boys.

Kairi followed them to see them going into a what looked to be a cave opening. Following them inside she looked around and did not not see them. Frowning she noticed that the cave got slightly darker suddenly. Turning around she saw Sora and Riku leaning against the wall where the entrance was, blocking the way out.

"What are you guys doing?" Kairi asked, becoming more and more confused.

"We have a secret to tell you Kairi," Riku said.

"A very important secret that can change everything," Sora added a trace of worry in his eyes.

"What kind of secret?" Kairi asked.

Sora and Riku share a glance again. "A secret that involves two other people," Riku stated.

"A secret… that involves my two older brothers."

"Your brothers? I didn't know you had older brothers," Kairi stated.

"Yes… Ventus and Vanitas," Sora said.

"More commonly known as Ven and Vani," Riku added a slight smirk on his face.

"I think I've heard those names before," Kairi said as she looked at Sora. "Aren't those… the names Rin taunts you with?"

Sora nodded stiffly. "Almost two years ago… Ven joined me… in my head. A few months after that, because of Rin's bullying Vanitas woke up."

Kairi looked at Sora for a moment, studying the expression in his face. "What do you mean they 'joined you'? I don't get that…"

"I felt a pain in my heart… Riku said I should open my heart and listen, I did and their hearts joined mine."

Kairi closed her eyes and smiled, "That sounds real nice of you to do something like that."

Sora froze not having expected that, and neither did Vanitas it seemed, ' _ **Is she… actually accepting this? Without questioning?**_ '

"I can tell you have a good heart," Kairi then added.

' _I'm a bit surprised she accepted it so easily as well,_ ' Ventus agreed.

"Thank you," Sora said gratefully.

* * *

Thank you all for reading! Let us know what you think. And we will see you next time!


	11. Chapter 11

And welcome back to another chapter of Souls of the Heart! Thank you everyone again for giving so much support to this story!

I don't got much else to say so let's get on with it!

* * *

 **Ch.11**

Sora, Riku and Kairi were all playing tag along the beach. They ran along the shoreline, chasing each other and giggling throughout it all. They soon ran into the edge of the water, trying to splash one another. What had started as a game of tag was now a game of soaking each other with the water. But none of them really cared, they were having fun either way.

Ventus was watching them play through Sora's eyes, but he couldn't help but feel sad. For a brief second two people overlapped the image he was seeing of Riku and Kairi, a guy with brown hair, and a woman with blue hair. They were only there for a second and then they were gone, but the image stayed longer in Ventus's thoughts. Their images were just a blur for when he had seen them, but he knew that they were important. The sadness was back within him. He felt as if he knew these two people, that they were special to him, that they were his closest friends, yet he couldn't remember their names.

Ventus figured that only he had seen the images, as Sora never once stopped playing with Riku and Kairi. The three of them just continued playing around, with not a care in the world. Ventus sometimes wished that life could be like that for him, so simple and peaceful. Maybe one day it would be...but for now he could only enjoy these carefree moments through Sora's eyes.

Vanitas frowned to himself as he watched through Sora's eyes, seeing him playing with those two other brat's that he called friends. Ever since he had awoken in the boy's heart he had started feeling strange. There was this warmth that was slowly filling him the longer he spent around the boy. Was this friendship? Was this what his annoying other half was always going on about? The feeling of doing anything to help his friends? Vanitas knew without a doubt that he would make anyone who hurt Sora suffer. Well, he would if he had a body. For now he could only try and help the boy get stronger. Maybe it was time to up the boy's training since it was pathetic watching the boy lose to the brat all the time.

Vanitas watched the friends all stop and take a break. He watched through Sora's eyes as the princess hugged the brat and then turned to them, a large grin on her face. ' _ **Don't tell me the little princess is going to hug the boy?**_ ' he questioned out loud annoyed at his other half.

His pathetic other half only sent him feelings of amusement, not even bothering to answer out loud. Vanitas inwardly sneered as the princess hugged the boy. He growled annoyed as a strange feeling filled him. It was warm. So much warmth, and it was so bright. He hated it.

A second later the brat joined in on the hug. With all three of them so close together there was a lot of light. Vanitas growled louder, why did the boy allow the other two to hug him like this? ' _ **Didn't the brat and princess ever hear of personal space?**_ ' He was once more sneering, hating the strange feeling that was filling him.

' _Jeez, lighten up Vani! It's just a hug,_ ' Venuts replied with an annoyed tone. Vanitas could feel his other half would be rolling his eyes if he had them.

The summer days kept coming and going, each day filled with another fun adventure for the trio. Another day of them getting closer and really getting to know each other. There would be days where they would stay on the mainland and play there, but there would be times where they would see Rin somewhere in town. Whenever that would happen, they would immediately go the other way and hope not to run into him. Overall though, the three mostly prefered to go out to the large island to play there. Out there they could have as much fun as they wanted, and it allowed Sora be able to talk about Ventus and Vanitas openly.

Throughout the summer, they explored and played all over the island. There were days when they played in the water and in the sand, and days when they would run and chase each other around. There were also other times when Sora and Riku played with their toy swords and Kairi cheered them both on. Sora still was not as strong as Riku, and lost a lot of the time to him, but he still never once gave up.

They would also look for any other secret hidden places on the island, like their cave hideout. Though there were a few little cove areas around the island, nothing truly beat their secret cave spot. It was far cooler in there, so they found it a great place to chill and relax on the hottest of the summer days. But they started to feel the cave was a bit empty, it needed something to make it more special.

"How about we draw pictures on the cave!" Kairi suggested as she ran a hand over part of the cave. She picked up a small rock the size of her hand, "We can use these little rocks. I was told we can draw on rocks with smaller ones." Kairi then took the small rock and made a few small lines across the cave wall in front of her to demonstrate her point.

"What would we draw though?" Riku asked.

"Anything!" Kairi suggested cheerfully. "What do you think Sora? You think it would be a cool idea?"

Sora nodded quickly, getting more chances to draw was something he had been developing over the months. "Yeah! It sounds fun!"

' _Ohh, you're going to be drawing again!_ ' Ventus exclaimed happily.

' _ **More of the doodling nonsense?**_ ' Vanitas questioned with a scoff, though even if it was only to himself, it was interesting to see the boy get better and better at drawing him and his other half.

"Doodle is not nonsense Vani, it's fun" Sora said as he frowned.

"Hmm yeah, drawing can be really pretty. So don't be mean about it Vani," Kairi added.

"Does Vani ever say anything nice?" Riku asked with a small chuckle.

Sora stuck his tongue out, "Just cause Vani's a grouch doesn't mean he isn't nice. He just shows it differently!" He said defending his older brother.

' _ **I am not nice,**_ ' Vanitas grumbled in protest.

' _Oh just give it up, Sora can see right through that little mask of yours Vani!_ '

Vanitas spluttered but went silent. Ventus could feel that his dark half was pouting. Sora couldn't help but giggle a little at the short-lived batner between his older brothers.

"Now what did they say?" Riku asked.

"Ven is just teasing Vani again," Sora said as he smiled.

"They really do sound like fun brothers," Kairi said.

"Yup! They are the best!" Sora cheered.

Ventus cheered, ' _Yay! Little Sora thinks we are the best_ '

' _ **Of course mini-me would think we are the best, he doesn't know any better.**_ '

' _Don't spoil the mood!_ ' Ventus gently reprimanded his other half.

' _ **Hmpf,**_ ' was Vanitas's only reply before he fell silent.

After another moment of Sora giggling at Ventus's and Vanitas's argument the three children picked up various small rocks laying around in the cave and began to draw various images and things on the cave walls. Every so often when they came to play on the island they would run to the cave to add in a few new drawings. They drew all sorts of different things from various different objects, to animals, to silly faces. After many days of drawing, the cave walls were eventually covered in all different little drawings from the three, and they all thought it made their hideout all the better.

One day it was just Sora and Kairi sitting in the cave. Riku could not make it that day to hangout as he had a family event to go to. But the two of them still managed to have fun together on the island. It was another hot day and they were taking refuge in their cool cave.

"Hey! Why don't we draw each other! That way we'll always be here to watch over each other!" Kairi suggested bouncing onto the balls of her feet.

"Yeah! That sounds like a great idea!" Sora said as he went to grab a small rock to draw with.

The two then walked over to one of the corners of the cave, near the strange wooden door. They sat down next to each other and begin to draw. Sora already knew that Kairi's drawings were far better than his, but he still had been improving a whole ton ever since he decided he would draw more often.

The minutes passed by and soon their images started to come into clearer form. Both their drawing were far from perfect, but Kairi's drawing of Sora's face was better than his of Kairi. Hers had smoother lines and was nicely filled in, Sora's on the other hand, while not unrecognizable, was a little more scribbled and shaky. But Sora and Kairi looked at each other for a moment and then at each other's drawings. And for that moment that they were looking at each other, they both smiled happily.

* * *

And that wraps up another cute fluffy chapter. Next chapter things pick up again :)

Can't wait till then, so see you all next time!


	12. Chapter 12

And we are back with another chapter of Souls of the Heart! Thank you everyone who has read this story so far, I am glad you are all enjoying it. Now I hope you are ready for this next chapter! Let's get to it!

* * *

 **Ch.12**

Sora sat back in the class with a smile, everything had settled down into a peaceful routine. After all Rin had moved away a couple years back, the bully had moved a couple weeks after he and Kairi had done their drawings in the cave. His mom and dad had actually held him a small party for the fact.

And even better Kairi had made a few friends who ended up becoming his and Riku's friends as well, there was this girl named Selphi and a pair of boys called Tidus, and Wakka. Sora remembered them back in the old days, the three never really did bully him, they just stayed away from him. But they did apologize to him. Which Vanitas scorned and Ventus praised.

Sora was currently working on the assignment the teacher of their third grade class has assigned them for the day. It was the dreaded math, luckily he had Ventus to help him. Vanitas didn't like helping him out, saying instead he should learn to do it himself.

Finally the day ended and the group of friends went to play.

It was a peaceful time.

A few months passed.

Sora was playing with Kairi on the playground as Riku was at his house helping his parents with chores. Sora was a bit tense as he noticed that Rin was also there, but as the minutes wore on and he didn't seem to be doing anything. He seemed to be walking around the playground, but never once looked at or came near Sora. He just seemed to be minding his own business for once. With a sigh of relief Sora slowly relaxed as he played with Kairi.

The two kids climbed up to the top of the jungle gym and were panting trying to catch their breaths from the intense race to the top they just had. "Hey! Let's play Hide and seek!" Kairi suggested.

Sora gave a nod, "Alright."

"You can be the seeker first," She giggled, "close your eyes and count to thirty now!"

"Okay!" He said closing his eyes and putting his hands in front. He heard the sounds of someone moving on the jungle gym after Kairi had gotten off.

He was at the 15 count when he heard Rin's voice, "Well if it isn't the _freak_."

His eyes snapped open as he saw Rin's dull brown eyes staring at him with his mousey brown hair in a tousled up mess. He had grown since Sora had last seen him and now stood a good four inches taller than him.

' _ **You should insult this pathetic lowlife,**_ ' Vanitas suggested.

' _No you should not, just get away from him Sora,_ ' Ventus countered.

"Rin… what do you want?" Sora asked as his body froze up against his will.

"You always ruin everything," The boy snarled, "It's because of _you_ that my mom decided we should move to a different area. It's your fault that none of my friends won't speak to me. You are the one who always gets me grounded!"

"I-it's been two years though…" Sora stated.

"Yeah but now I have to go to a disciplinary school and it's all your fault! The older boys there always take out their frustrations on me, and this is all your fault _freak_!"

"None of that is my fault though!" Sora protested.

' _ **The bully brought it upon himself by treating you as if you were inferior.**_ ' Vanitas sneered.

"You brought this upon yourself by being so mean to me!" Sora shouted repeating a bit of what Vanitas had said.

Sora heard Ventus sigh.

"I wouldn't have to have been mean to you if you weren't such a freak with imaginary friends! People like you belong in the disciplinary school not me!" He said angrily spittle flying from his mouth, his eyes shining in a fiery rage.

"Sora!" Sora heard Kairi called out to him. "You get away from Sora you big bully!" Kairi shouted up at Rin.

The bully sneered, "Oh now you need that girl protecting you! You really are just a pathetic worm!" The boy snarled and shoved Sora harshly, not giving Sora a second to react or grab onto anything.

For a brief moment Sora felt like he was flying as everything went in slow motion.

And then he was falling.

Crack!

Thud!

Sora screamed.

And then there was pain.

Everything that happened was a blur as pain burned through his arm. There was also yelling and a large pair of arms gently wrapping around him pulling him into a sitting position. He couldn't focus on anything though, the pain was too much. He couldn't see or pay attention to anything going on. There was just too much pain.

Later he was able to clearly remember what happened. Rin had pushed him off of the jungle gym and he had fallen and broke his arm. Worried parents came rushing over and pulled the enraged bully off of Sora. One of the fathers had pulled him away, being careful with his arm since he happened to be a doctor.

Now he was sitting in a hospital room, with a cast on his left arm. He sat there waiting... waiting to finally be able to go home. He sat on the hospital bed, as he stared off at the blank wall in front of him. Every once and a while his eyes would shift to his arms. He would stare at the cast on his left arm before looking over to his other arm, which was covered in various bruises from Rin's attack. He could also feel soreness and bruises on his chest and stomach. So much of him hurt, and it just made him feel awful over all.

' _ **That child is more of a psychopath than me!**_ ' Vanitas commented a note of shock in his voice.

' _And that is actually saying something,_ ' Ventus agreed.

There was no response.

' _Sora…_ ' Ventus said not really knowing what to actually say, Sora was obvious not okay.

' _ **Mini-me, next time you see the little psychopath you should tear him-**_ '

' _NO SORA SHOULD NOT DO THAT_ ' Ventus shouted over whatever it was that Vanitas was trying to say. Sora flinched over Ventus's yelling, but still did not speak, he only let out a shaky breath.

' _Remember Sora, whenever you see Rin, or any other bullies, you should run away to get help._ '

' _ **Maybe you should take your own advice Ventus. I remember how you ran away from the safety of your home to chase after your pathetic friend, and you always ran straight head on into danger… and now here you are telling little Sora to run away from it. Don't be such a hypocrite.**_ '

' _But that was…'_ Ventus trailed off for a moment, trying to remember the memories Vanitas had referenced. But everything was still so hazy from that for him. It bothered him sometimes that he couldn't remember things about his past yet Vanitas could. But he knew getting frustrated about that was not what he should be focusing on at the moment. Sora was the main focus at the moment. ' _That's different...This is different._ '

Vanitas scoffed, ' _ **You don't even remember what I'm talking about do you?**_ ' Vanitas gave a mock gasp, ' _ **Don't tell me you forgot about those precious friends of yours?**_ ' He taunted.

' _I do remember them!'_ Ventus shouted, temporarily forgetting that he wanted to focus on how Sora was feeling. ' _I remember...just not everything…'_

' _ **Oh how sad… I guess they weren't that important to you after all… tell me… do you even remember their names?**_ ' Vanitas chuckled.

Ventus tried to think. He tried to remember. He could remember a blur of their faces, but he could not recall a voice or a name for either of them. It hurt him to realize this… that he couldn't fully remember his best friends. He was about to reply to Vantias when Sora spoke up first.

"Guys...please…" He mumbled out so quietly, it was almost not even heard. "Just be quiet…"

Ventus immediately thought that Vanitas was going to speak up to mock Sora for his request, but his darker half was surprisingly quiet.

* * *

Sora was sitting in his room, laying on his bed. His mom knocked on the door asking if he was alright or if he needed anything, but left after a few minutes and he didn't say anything. It had been almost a day since Sora returned home from the hospital, but he hadn't left his room at all. He only left his room for the bathroom and that was it. His parents would bring in food for him, but he would not say a word to them. He just couldn't bring himself to speak. Everytime he though about saying something the words just died in his throat. Soon over the course of day, he didn't even feel like saying anything at all. He didn't even bother saying anything to Ventus or Vanitas, who both had kept quiet ever since Sora told them too.

Sora was alone with his thoughts, or really he believe he was. He had learned that Ventus and Vanitas could hear every thought he had. But sometimes if Sora thought hard enough he could make is so they couldn't hear him...but this was not one of those times. " _Why am I such a pathetic loser? Why am I such a stupid freak? Why… why does this always happen to me? Why does Rin hurt me…?_ "

' _ **He bullies you, because he knows that in the moment you won't do anything to stop him. All you do is run off to tell your parents, you never stand up for yourself. Unless you start standing up for yourself Rin is just going to keep targeting you,**_ ' Vanitas responded to Sora's thought.

Ventus frowned, he wanted to say something… but Sora didn't want them to speak. So in the end he remained quiet. He would let Vanitas be the one to break Sora's rules. It pained him deeply to hear those thoughts from Sora though.

Sora didn't bother saying anything to Vanitas, he kept quiet again after that, not even letting his thoughts wander for his brothers to hear.

' _ **So are you going to stand up for yourself, or are you just going to keep letting that bully have his way with you?**_ '

"I thought I said be quiet…" Sora muttered, his voice a mix of sadness, bitterness, and tiredness.

' _ **Very well then,**_ ' Vanitas spoke and went silent.

After that, for the remainder of the day, Sora didn't speak again, nor did Ventus or Vanitas hear any of the boy's thoughts. Eventually it became night, and after Sora had fallen asleep Ventus couldn't take it anymore. Going nearly a entire day without Sora talking to them, it really was bothering him far more than expected.

Ventus cleared his voice, ' _Um… So…_ ' He started trying to think of what to say, not even knowing if Vanitas would respond back. ' _What do we do?'_

His only answer was silence.

Ventus let out a long sigh, ' _I thought so…'_ He really wanted to help Sora. He wanted to help Sora feel better, but there wasn't anything he could do. The only thing he could do was wait.

The next day was just the same as the last. Sora stayed in his room and didn't speak at all, not even to his mother or father. The only things they were able to get out from him were a few small shakes of the head and nods. Other than that there was nothing. Nothing but the uneasy silence that filled Sora's room.

Later in the afternoon Sora's mind started to wander, the terrible memories of Rin came flowing back and made Sora's heart hurt again. Not only did it hurt, but it caused Sora to feel frustration over it. Sora began to think to himself about it all, not concentrating hard enough for Ventus and Vanitas _not_ to hear it. So his thoughts were crystal clear for them, " _He always hurts me and I hate that he can cause me to freeze up! That I can't actually do anything to stop him! He just makes me feel so weak! I hate that he bullies me! I hate him!_ " Sora shouted into his mind, his heart was in so much pain that it felt like a part of it was breaking.

' _ **You feel the pain don't you?**_ ' Vanitas voice questioned in a dark drawl. ' _ **That hatred inside of you can make you stronger. Remember how it feels mini-me, and next time you come across that child psychopath… unleash it. Use that anger against him and show him that he is not the stronger one between you two. Prove that you are superior to him.**_ '

Sora grumbled in annoyance, but gave no actual verbal response, he just sat up and brought his knees to his chest.

Minutes later a knock came on his door, his mother opened the door, her face painted with sadness. She looked over to Sora before speaking, "Sora? Your friends are here to see you."

Sora slowly turned to see Riku and Kairi entering his room, both of them looked deeply worried for their friend.

"I'll let you guys be by yourselves, while I bake your favorite cookies." Sora's mother said before closing the door.

Sora stared long at his friend, but wouldn't speak. He soon just looked down at his bed and sighed.

"Sora?" Kairi asked as she sat down next to Sora on one side. "Are you feeling okay?"

"We're really worried about you," Riku added as he sat down on Sora's other side. "Your mom told us you haven't spoken in over a day."

Sora sighed again as he tried to bury face into his knees. He still didn't want to talk. He didn't want them to know how weak he felt. How pathetic he felt. He just wanted to be left alone.

"Please Sora," Kairi plead, "Please talk to us."

There was still nothing from Sora.

"Have you talk to Ven or Vani about the encounter with Rin?" Riku asked, curious in general but also hoping to get at least something from Sora.

Sora slowly lifted his head and shook it back at forth.

"You haven't talked to them? Have they tried to say anything to you?" Kairi asked.

Sora shook his head again.

"They… aren't talking?" Riku asked.

"I… I told them to be quiet…" Sora finally muttered out his voice cracking a bit.

Kairi gasped. "Why would you do that?"

"I just...I just wanted it to be quiet for once. I didn't want to talk," Sora continued to mutter everything out, still not looking at either of his friends.

"And Vani actually stayed quiet?" Riku asked a bit surprised.

"Yeah...he listened to me…mostly," Sora sighed.

"That's surprising," Riku said with a slight smile.

"I guess…" Sora responded.

Kairi frowned as she scooted a little bit closer to Sora, "Sora...please. Please talk to us… we want to know you are alright."

"I am talking to you right now aren't I?" Sora snapped out before instantly regretting it.

Kairi placed a hand on Sora's shoulder, "We just want to be here for you. We're your friends."

"But...why?" Sora choked out, tears starting to form in his eyes once again, clenching his fists. "Why would you guys want to be friends with me? Rin is right...I am a loser. I'm weak...I'm a weak pathetic loser…" Sora paused for a moment before he spat out through clenched teeth, "I'm just a _freak_ who doesn't deserve to have friends!"

Both Riku and Kairi's eyes widened as they gasped. They couldn't believe what they had just heard. Sora couldn't have just said that… could he?

" _ **Sora**_!" all four of them shouted together. Riku and Kairi immediately wrapped their arms around Sora and pulled him back into a large embrace.

"Never say that Sora! That's an awful thing to say. You are a great person, not a freak," Kairi said as she rested her head against Sora's shoulder, the tears starting to form in her eyes now.

"You _are not_ a freak Sora. We have known each other since we are little and I know you aren't a freak or a loser," Riku added.

' _Rin is just a liar! You should never believe a word that comes out of that bullies mouth._ '

' _ **I hate to agree with them, but they are right if anyone is a freak it is him,**_ ' Vanitas grumbled.

"But… I'm always losing against you Riku… and I can never get the drawings of Vani or Ven right…And look where I am now...cause I am so pathetically weak my arm is broken..."

"We are still young Sora, you can still get stronger! You have beaten me a few times," Riku said as he closed his eyes. "You still have plenty more chances to try and beat me. I know you can do it."

"Riku's right. You always try your hardest, you never give up. That's one reason why you are such a great friend, you always are so strong in your heart," Kairi added.

' _ **Ugh, such a disgustingly light thing to say, but it does have merit. If you train more then next time you can crush that pathetic child who dares try to harm you.**_ '

The tears streamed down Sora's face as he continued to let himself be embraced by his friends. Their words reached him, they reached deep in his heart and brought forth a happier feeling. He could feel the warmth of the emcrace and light coming from them. The hug was surrounding him in light, comfort, and love. His friends. Yes… his friends. They were his friends and Sora knew that for sure. He couldn't believe he let himself ever think they weren't. They cared for him and were there for him when he needed. Not only that, but he knew the same went for Ventus and Vanitas, though from Vanitas it was more of a dark comfort.

"I'm sorry…" Sora cried out through tears. He didn't know who he was saying sorry at though. Was it at Riku and Kairi for worrying them? Or Ventus and Vanitas for telling them to stop talking to him? Maybe it was both. "I'm sorry….everyone."

' _ **Hmpf, don't apologize!**_ ' Vanitas snapped out.

' _It's fine Sora! We understand,_ ' Ven said gently ignoring the weird feelings Vanitas was giving off. His dark half really was confused about whatever it was he was thinking over there.

"Oh Sora, it's alright, we are just glad you are okay," Kairi said, not once let letting go of Sora.

"Yeah, just remember we are always here for you, no matter what," Riku added in.

' _Vanitas and I are here for you Sora! We care about you and will always help you to the best of our abilities. I promise._ '

' _ **What my idiotic other half said, only without the mushiness,**_ ' Vanitas agreed.

Sora sniffed as the tears still raced down his face, but a small smile was beginning to form. "T-Thanks… Thanks everyone."

* * *

And there it is. The end of chapter 12. What did you guys think?

Thank you all for reading again and we will see you next time!


	13. Chapter 13

Aaaand we are back with another chapter of **Souls of the Heart!** Chapter XIII yay! Thank you so, so much to everyone who has read this story. It truly means a lot to me that so many of you are enjoying this story. Thank you to all the reviews as well, your words make everything even better :D

Now let's get on with the chapter!

* * *

 **Ch.13**

It had been three weeks since the incident, and now Sora's arm was fully healed. Sora smiled that his cast could finally come off! Though he still was not happy that he had to ever have one, over the weeks he did wear it, all his friends signed their names on it. Even some other nice kids at school also signed it. Sora even asked if Ventus and Vanitas wanted their names to be on it, ' _Sure!_ ' Ventus had readily agreed. ' _ **If you must**_ ' Vanitas had replied in lieu of agreeing. At hearing their words Sora cheerfully wrote their names onto the cast.

He knew that was he was taken off he could keep the cast if he so choose, he felt like he wanted to, to remind him of all his friends. He was so happy now that his arm was free! Although now he had to get his arm back in shape since it felt weird and weak. School was going great and Rin was once again gone. Sora was relieved again as he could relax more and enjoy the days with his friends.

Currently he was on the island with Riku, Kairi, and his three other friends. They were all playing a massive game of hide and seek. Sora ran around looking for everyone as it was his turn to seek. This was one of the best days of Sora's life so far. He was with friends, having fun, and didn't have to worry about anyone bullying him. Although Tidus, Wakka, and Selphie did not know about Ventus and Vanitas, they still were becoming close friends with Sora. It was a little hard for Sora to get use to at first, having more than just two friends, but he easily accepted it and enjoyed every moment.

It was a few days later and the sun had just set. Sora was back home and getting ready for bed. Sora had gotten into his pjs and flopped down onto his bed.

"Hey guys?" Sora asked quietly to Ventus as Vanitas, as to not be too loud that his parents would hear.

' _Yes Sora?_ ' Ventus asked.

"I was just wondering… will I ever get to see you guys? Like… actually get to see what you two look like?"

' _I don't know…_ ' Ventus replied honestly.

Sora sighed a little with a yawn, "Oh… okay. I just really hope I can one day..."

' _Me too…_ ' Ventus agreed.

Sora then slowly closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep. Normally for Ventus and Vanitas when Sora was sleeping, they would essentially be in a black void, as Sora's eyes were closed. But tonight something different happened. It started off within the black void, but strange blurry light seemed to surround them. A strange sense of actually seeing feeling seemed to come to both Ventus and Vanitas. The light was soon so bright, that without even thinking they closed their eyes.

A second later Ventus's eyes shot back open, surprised and confused. He looked around at the scenery before him. It was a place he knew very well ever since joining Sora's heart. It was the large island off the mainland. The one that Sora always played at with his friends. Ventus looked down at himself and saw that he was not looking through Sora's eyes for this, he saw familiar clothes that were his own. Slowly Ventus ran a hand through his hair, it stuck up in various was, but it did feel like it was his own hair.

' _What am I doing here?...How am I even here?'_ Ventus thought to himself.

"How…? Are we somehow actually on the little island Mini-me lives on?" Vanitas asked before he saw Ventus standing nearby and glared at him.

Ventus quickly turned at gasped in shock, "Vanitas?!" Upon seeing his face clearly in front of him, the memories of Vanitas causing trouble came back. A small bit of anger built in Ventus, but just seeing Vanitas calmly stare off at the endless sea eased him down a little bit.

"Obviously," The black haired, golden eyed, older look alike of Sora drawled.

"But how is this possible?" Ventus asked. "What happened?"

Vanitas gave a scoff, "You expect me to know?"

"It's just so weird. It's like we have our bodies back...but it doesn't feel real. This...it's gotta be some dream or something right?" Ventus asked as he looked down at his hands, carefully opening and closing them into fists.

"Most likely. Perhaps we should look for our host," Vanitas suggested pointedly looking away from Ventus.

Before Ventus had the chance to speak, a different voice did. "Ven? Vani?" The two turned to look to see Sora standing on the beach as well, just a few feet away from them. His eyes wide with curiosity.

"Yes Sora," Ven said smiling gently.

Sora beamed happily and dashed over tackling Ventus to the ground in a giant hug. As Sora hugged Ventus he asked, "Is this real?...or am I just dreaming this…"

"This is a dream," Ventus started which caused Sora to frown a little, "But this dream is special. It may just be a dream, but we are all here together." He then wrapped his arms around Sora and held him tightly. He was finally able to give Sora a hug after all these years.

"Really?" Sora perked up.

Ventus nodded, "Yes really."

Sora's attention then fell onto Vanitas. A smile crossed Sora's face as he jumped up and ran over to Vanitas. But before he could get close, Vanitas stepped back and held out a hand.

"Just what do you think you are doing?" Vanitas asked with a slight glare.

"A hug of course!" Sora responded happily.

"Well forget about it…" Vanitas grumbled.

"Aw… why not?" Sora asked.

"I…" Vanitas paused for a moment before turning his head away, "I don't do hugs."

Sora slumped his shoulders for a moment as he sighed. But then a small smirk came across his face, "Well too bad!" Sora shouted as he jumped at Vanitas and hugged him. Though he was not able to not him over like Ventus. He wrapped his arms around Vanitas and hugged him tightly.

Vanitas on the other hand turned his attention back to Sora. Anger contorted his face as his eyes filled with rage. His whole body tensed up tighty as he gritted his teeth and raised one of his hands up into a fist. Ventus gasped as he was afraid Vanitas was about to strike Sora, but Vanitas's hand didn't move. He held it there until he slowly lowered it to rest on top of Sora's head. The anger slowly faded away from his face, as his muscles slowly relaxed. The anger was slowly replaced by what looked like a mix of emotions. Emotions that Ventus had never once seen on Vanitas before. He looked confused...and maybe a little sad. Emotions like these were something Vanitas never had felt before. With shaking hands Vanitas slowly reached his arms around Sora, and hugged him back. The confusion though never once left his face, but he was in fact hugged Sora back.

Ventus stared in shock as Vanitas actually returned Sora's hug. He may have liked teasing his dark counterpart… but he was not going to interrupt this moment. It was a shame he didn't have a camera though. Would have been great blackmail material.

Sora felt at peace calmly buried into one of his older brothers for a hug, but it was still incomplete. Grinning he turned to look over his shoulder at Ventus. "Come join the hug!" He invited cheerfully.

"No absolutely not!" Vanitas snarled now struggling a bit to get away from Sora who just held onto him tightly, not letting go.

Ventus found himself laughing as he stood up. This was a sight he never thought he would see. Before Vanitas could break away from Sora, Ventus joined in on their hug, making the grin on Sora's face even grander.

"Would you two get off of me!" Vanitas growled glaring at them both.

"Don't be like that Vani!" Sora said pouting his eyes going wide, "Please smile," Sora bit the bottom of his lip, his eyes shining brightly. "For me?"

Vanitas held out for five seconds against Sora's puppy dog face before caving in and trying to give the boy a smile, which came to him a lot easier than he thought he would. The smile actually felt natural, not forced, and not one of his normal cruel smiles. But it felt so weird… this feeling in him… it was unlike anything he had felt before. He didn't understand. He didn't understand any of it.

Sora smiled, "Come on guys let's play!"

Ventus of course agreed, though Vanitas at first said he wouldn't, as playing was childish. But Sora begged, using his big child eyes again to convince him to join in the fun. Reluctantly he had agreed, though he kept giving excuses as to why he didn't want to play. At first when Ventus started to chase Sora and Vanitas stayed back and just watched them. It felt weird for him to be doing something like this. Having fun? That just didn't suit him at all. That was something for Ventus to do. Vanitas never once remembered having fun...so he just wasn't use to it.

But eventually Vanitas was dragged into it, and did in fact find himself laughing and smiling as he played with Sora. Which again, deep in the back of his mind...just felt weird. But he didn't mind it, much to his surprise. Well except that Ventus was with them, he would prefer if it was just him and Sora.

Time had passed as they continued to play along the shore and in the water, but soon they all stopped to catch their breaths. They sat down next to the shoreline and watched the waves roll in and out.

"What should we do now?" Sora asked excitedly, still full of energy.

"I don't know, what do you want to do?" Ventus asked.

"Hmm, how about we build a sandcastle!" Sora suggested.

"That sounds like a great idea. But do you think you could start without us? There is… something I want to talk about with Vani in private."

Sora nodded, "Okay!" Sora then jumped up and walked a little closer to the water and started to scooping up sand.

Ventus looked over at Vanitas and stood up, "Come on, let's go sit a little further back."

"Why should I?" Vanitas asked with a sneer, though the effect was ruined as the dark haired boy looked really comfortable slouched, as he was watching over Sora.

"We have the chance to talk now without Sora hearing us….face to face," Ventus replied.

Vanitas sighed, he knew it had to be done, but he really didn't want to confront his other half. "Fine," he grumbled as he slowly stood up taking his time and making sure to stretch and pop his back. He hid a smirk as he saw Ventus shoot him an annoyed look.

The two walked a few feet back from the shoreline, far enough that Sora wouldn't be able to hear their conversation. They sat down and at first neither of them said anything, though Ventus seemed to be in deep thought. "So what do you want?" Vanitas growled crossing his arms his golden eyes narrowed in suspicion.

Ventus let out a long sigh, "I wanted to talk...I know we still can't fully remember our past… but we can remember certain things and events. I remember how you were before, and I've noticed over these years with Sora...you've changed."

"What sort if idiocy are you talking about? I still hate you with a burning passion, and if I ever get the chance I will end you myself." Vanitas snarled out. He was not changing! He was still the same. He was not going soft on the mini version of himself. He would still take over Ventus's body and become one! He thought to himself angrily as his hands clenched into fists.

"But… I have noticed something. I'm sure you've noticed even though it seems we are spilt, we can still sometimes sense each others emotions. And I have sensed a lot of different things from you."

"Then sense my emotions now!" Vanitas spat pushing all of his anger to Ventus to the front.

Ventus stiffened up as he took in a deep breath, "I just meant… There is just so much I have noticed… especially when you hugged Sora back there. Ah… I don't know how to really explain it. "

"Then let me explain!" Vanitas sneered. "Ever since waking here I...I have…" Vanitas found himself trailing off. His anger gone for the moment, and other emotions taking its place. A few of them familiar to him, but there were also those newer ones that he didn't get yet. "You would _never_ understand," he spat out turning away from Ventus.

"Then Vanitas, please explain it to me," Ventus asked scooching a bit closer an gently putting a hand onto Vanitas's shoulder. "I would like to understand."

Vanitas gripped a fist tightly as he looked out at the sea, "Fine." He muttered before he rapidly turned to face Ventus again his golden eyes piercing into Ventus's blue eyes, "I _thankfully_ can't remember everything about my life, but what I do remember is… suffering and pain. From the very first moment, back when I was first separated from you... there was so much suffering. I was in agony. I do not comprehend how I managed at first. So many moments of my life were torture… I was _suffering_ while you were having fun times with your friends. That is why I wanted to become one with you so badly...someone… I can't remember who… but they told me that if I were to become one with you that all my pain and suffering would end."

Ventus bit his lip, feeling a bit of pity for Vanitas. He knew that they weren't separated by choice...The memories were still fuzzy but he knew the only reason Vanitas ever existed was because… he had failed at something. Ventus's hand fell to his side limply as he chose to stay quiet so Vanitas would continue onward.

"Then when we fought… and I lost… I thought that was it for me, that my life was finally over. I thought I'd fade away and that would be it. Though, here I am again...Although I don't feel as much pain as I use to, but I do get those feelings whenever Sora is in pain. It brings back...those awful memoires," Vanitas said as he gripped his fist a little tighter. "But…" Vanitas trailed off looking away.

Ventus raised an eyebrow, "But what?"

"Being with Sora...I've been feeling other things. New emotions I never felt before…" He reluctantly admitted. He hated that he was so pathetic into admitting all of these strange feelings to his other half. Yet… he knew that his other half would understand this stuff better than he would. It was a weird mix of being pathetic for admitting it, but also feeling a little relief for getting off his chest.

"Like what?" Ventus asked becoming curious.

Vanitas looked towards the ground one of his hands absentmindedly grabbing a handful of the sand and letting the grains fall between his fingers. The dark haired boy sighed, "I'm not exactly sure… I have never felt them before. But I think… happiness, compassion...and whatever you call wanting to care and protect someone."

"You've never felt those before?" Ventus questioned his eyebrows furrowed together. The more he heard about Vanitas, the more he felt like he could understand him. He had no idea that was how Vanitas had felt, now he started to feel a bit bad, thinking back to those few encounters he had with him. He regretted some of the things he had said to him.

"No!" Vanitas suddenly hissed out. "I am the darkness of you! Negative emotions are all I had back then because you know...being darkness! I never had friends or anyone who cared for me! I never laughed or had fun! But now… Argh! I don't know anymore!" He shouted before going quite. Vanitas buried his head into his hands and let out a frustrating sigh. "I… I don't understand any of it!"

Ventus frowned, he could feel the sadness, anger, confusion and frustration coming off from Vanitas. Ventus started to reach over to give Vantias a comforting hug, but he found himself hesitating. Why was he hesitating at this? He felt he wanted to comfort Vanitas, but he had a feeling Vanitas also wouldn't want it or understand that either.

A moment of silence passed before Ventus hesitantly asked, "Will… will you be okay?"

Vanitas sneered, "I don't want to speak with you anymore, idiot."

Ventus sighed as Vanitas stood up and walked away. He thought it would be best to give Vanitas some space after everything he just said. Ventus went and lean against a tree to watch Sora. As if feeling his gaze the chocolate colored hair boy turned to look at Vanitas. The boy ran over to him, his blue eyes wide in innocence. "You look sad Vani…" Sora said before giving Vanitas another hug.

The dark haired boy tensed up for a moment before once again relaxing. That strange feeling of happiness filled him again. A small smile formed on his face as he patted Sora on the head. "You really are something special…" Vanitas muttered, wondering how Sora was able to give him so much mushy light feelings inside of him. Not even his pathetic other half could do that.

Sora looked up into his eyes a large smile on his face, "Please don't be sad anymore Vani! I'll always be here for you! And Ven too!" He declared.

The three of them went on to play more after that. Though Ventus and Vanitas didn't speak directly to each other for awhile, they did indulge in all of Sora's conversation. They continued to play and run around until Sora started to feel dizzy.

Sora sat down on the beach as he held his head. Everything on the island around them began to blur and slowly seemed to be fading away. Ventus and Vanitas noticed that Sora was now sitting on the ground. Concerned they quickly ran over to Sora and kneeled down next to him.

"Sora? Are you okay?" Ventus asked.

"I don't know...everything feels weird…" Sora replied.

"Hmm… Maybe you are waking up," Vanitas suggested. A pensive look on his face, tilting his head the left lightly.

Sora's eyes went wide as he shook his head, "No no! I don't wanna wake up! Please...I don't wanna leave here. I'm having so much fun...plus this is the first time I got to see you guys. I don't want to leave this," he begged, his eyes tearing up as he bit his lip.

Ventus wrapped his arms around Sora, holding him tightly. He gently rubbed Sora's back as he spoke. "I know...I don't want to leave this place either. But you gotta wake up though. You have another day of playing with your friends."

"But I don't know if I'll ever get to see you guys again," Sora replied.

"I'm sure we will figure out a way to see each other again. I know we will," Ventus said.

"But…" Sora started as more of the island was faded away dissolving slowly.

"No buts…" Vanitas grumbled out. "We _will_ find a way for you to dream this again. It has to be able to happen again. So… don't worry about it." Vanitas sighed as he slowly joined in the embrace. He didn't really want to that much...hugs were still strange to him. But he knew Sora needed the comfort. He found himself surprised again as he didn't mind he was joined in a hug with Ventus. But almost all his attention was on Sora at the moment.

"What… What if I don't dream this again though?" Sora whined as a few tears slipped from his eyes. "What if I don't get to see you you guys again?"

"Don't worry, even if you don't see us again… we'll still be there for you," Ventus said in a comforting tone.

"I'm sure we will be able to figure out how to do this again," Vanitas said, trying to reassure Sora.

Sora nodded slowly, wrapping his arms around his brothers. A few tears more streamed down his face. "Okay…I love you guys."

Before anyone else could say anything, everything faded away from Sora's view. Even the feeling of the warm embraces of Ventus and Vanitas disappeared into nothingness. Sora found himself to be opening his eyes, laying in his bed.

"Ven? Vani?" Sora asked as he yawned, wiping away the few tears in his eyes.

'Yes Sora?' Ventus's voice came first.

"Were… you guys actually in my dream last night?"

'Yes Sora. Yes we were,' Ventus replied.

' _ **And… we care about you a great deal,'**_ Vanitas muttered before going silent.

* * *

And that wraps up a sweet little chapter. Hope you all enjoyed. Don't forget to let us know what you think and we will see you next time! I also will eventually be back from my vacation! Which is also good cause then I can hopefully have more time to write for this story with **TheDeadGirlRisen.**

 **See you all next time.**


	14. Chapter 14

Hello everyone! And welcome back to Souls of the Heart! We got ch14 all nice and ready for you all.  
As always thank you to everyone who has read this story. It means so much to us! Now let's get on with it.

* * *

 **Ch.14**

Sora smiled as he leaned back on the sand staring up at the bright blue sky above him. It was summer time for he and his friends, Riku was eleven now and he and Kairi were ten years old.

" _These last two years have been peaceful,_ " Sora broadcasted his thoughts to his two older brothers. Over the past couple years he had figured out how to properly silently communicate with Ventus and Vanitas, though sometimes he still slipped up and spoke out loud. Luckily he only slipped up and spoke to them on the island, usually only when his two best friends were around.

"Do your brothers remember anything about the other worlds?" Riku asked laying next to him. Kairi also was laying on the ground on Sora's right side.

' _I remember a world that I lived on for a few years...it had a lot of grassy mountains, rivers, and maybe a waterfall or two. I think there was also a large clock tower apart of the building that I lived in. That's all I really got, sorry if it isn't much,'_ Ventus explained.

Sora relayed what information Ventus had told him.

' _ **I remember the place I was… born, it was a desert place. Hot and full of sand with a great many towering cliffs,**_ ' Vanitas said, not wanting to be outdone by his other half, even if he didn't remember much else about the place.

Repeating the information Sora watched as different shaped clouds slowly wafted by. "One day… I would like to see the other worlds out there," Riku spoke.

"Yeah! And We can find where you came from Kairi!" Sora grinned as he suggested his idea.

"That sounds fun," Kairi agreed in a gentle murmur.

"But, how will we get there?" Riku asked.

"I dunno," Sora said.

"What about Ven and Vani?" Kairi questioned.

Both of his older brothers said they couldn't remember how they traveled between worlds, only that they could. "They don't remember, but maybe we could build a boat or a raft! Then we can sail the seas looking for a way to get to another world!" Sora exclaimed jumping up.

"Slow down! If we do that we would need to plan things out." Riku said.

Kairi giggled, "Well there is no time like the present to start planning."

' _ **I see no way how this can end well,**_ ' Vanitas spoke calmly.

' _Ah lighten up! It's just a bit of childish fun, I'm sure they realize that they can't actually sail to another world._ ' Ventus chuckled, though his entire comment went unheard by Sora who was to busy chatting with Kairi and Riku.

From that moment on the three of them started planning there getaway from the island.

* * *

Sora smiled at Kairi and Riku, they had finally finalized their building plans for the raft. It had taken them a couple years to make sure that it should work properly and not instantly sink. But now they could actually start gathering the materials needed to build it. The trio instantly went to start searching the island for supplies to use.

Soon.

Soon they would be escaping from their small little world.

* * *

Sora smiled as he saw how the raft was coming along it was so closed to being finished. Probably only a few more days. He sat on the paopu tree with Kairi next to him, while Riku leaned against the trunk. "We're so close…"

Kairi gave a nod.

"We can finally leave this place and see what is to be found past our little sea," Sora said with a grin. Sora almost couldn't believe that they were so close to accomplishing their goal. It had taken them almost four years total to create. With two years for planning and the other two to build the raft. But they had almost finished it. They even would sometimes get help from Tidus, Wakka, and Selphie, though they didn't know the true reason for the raft. They just had thought it was going to be used as a normal raft. But overall, it was almost done. Soon they would get to go on a great adventure together.

The trio watched the sun set casting brilliant shades of red and orange over the ocean making the water look as if it was made of blood. As the sun finished setting, the trio went their ways back home. Soon as Sora got home and ready for bed, he fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow. The day of building the raft really had worn him out.

He opened his eyes to see that the world around him was dark. Sora couldn't not make out any of his surroundings. "Where am I? Ven? Vani?" He called out looking for his brothers, but no response answered him. This dream felt so realistic, like his dreams with his brothers… but they weren't here, he couldn't feel their presence with him.

For the first time he was alone.

And it scared him.

 _Your brothers can't be with you all the time._ He heard someone speak, though they had no discernable gender.

 _You are weak._ The voice continued. A bombardment of images came before him, memories of Rin bullying him. Of his younger self crying.

 _You are a coward._ The voice spoke again more images showing, these onse showcasing him running away from his problems, and even ignoring the problems.

 _You think that your friends need you… they don't_. The voice chuckled sinsterly. Images of his friends doing things by themselves, the annoyed glances they sometimes sent towards him whenever he did something particularly stupid.

 _You are pathetic._ Images showed, these ones he weren't familiar with. They showed Riku and Kairi being alone in what looked to be prison cells there bodies bruised with dried blood caked onto them.

"Stop!" Sora cried out shaking his head. Those images weren't true. They couldn't be.

 _You think you can save your friends. You can not. You are not strong enough._ The voice said as if reciting the most basic facts of the universe. The world around Sora changed showing him on the raft with Riku and Kairi on choppy stormy waters.

Kairi screamed as a vicious wave came and knocked her off. Both Sora and Riku went to help, but the older boy fell in himself trying to help. Sora reached for the two of them, trying desperately to save them. To help them. But he just couldn't do it.

 _You will never be able to save them. Your friends will be lost, gone forever into the void, and it will all be because of you._

Sora shot up, finding himself to be sitting in his bed. He was breathing heavily as he felt his body was covered in a cold sweat.

' _Sora? Is something wrong?_ ' Ventus asked gently.

"Nightmare…" Sora muttered aloud. "It was a nightmare…"

' _ **Oh?**_ ' Vanitas asked curious. Sora hadn't had a nightmare that left him in such a state in quite a few years.

"I couldn't save them… I was weak…" Sora said, still breathing heavily as he placed a hand over his heart, feeling his rapid heartbeat.

' _You're not weak Sora! You are one of the strongest boys I know. It was just a nightmare, try to go back to sleep. Besides me and Vani-boy will always be here to help you. I promise._ '

' _ **We don't know if anything will happen, so unlike Ventus. I will not be as foolish to promise that, but I will always try to help you if I am able. Now let us go to the dream island.**_ '

The dream island was what they called that special island within Sora's dreams where they could all see each other. If Sora thought hard enough before going to sleep, he could enter into this special dream state, and spend his dream playing with his two brothers. It had taken Sora a couple years to figure out how to do it consistently, but over the years since discovering the dream island, it was one of his favorite things to dream about.

"Thanks guys," Sora said as he laid back down on his bed. He closed his eyes and began to concentrate. Slowly his consciousness drifted off, and entered the dream island, where Ventus and Vanitas were waiting for him.

* * *

Just a few days later Sora was back on the island again. The raft was nearly complete, but there was still just a few more things that needed to be done before they could all leave. It was another day were Tidus, Wakka, and Selphie were also on the island, but they mostly were just relaxing or play fighting with on another.

Sora knew that there was still work need to be done for the raft, but he just was feeling a little lazy. He walked along the beach and soon laid down against the said. He yawned as he looked up at the clouds passing by.

' _Slacking off again?_ ' Ventus teased.

' _ **We didn't raise you to be lazy,**_ ' Vanitas grumbled.

" _It's just a small rest. No big deal,"_ Sora thought back to them.

' _ **You say that now… but you're just going to fall asleep,**_ ' Vanitas sighed.

Sora chuckled a little before closing eyes, " _Maybe."_

Sleep did in fact overtake Sora, but what happened next was a complete surprise. He was falling through down through the ocean. He felt like he was drowning yet he was perfectly able to breath. He landed upon the ocean floor. He was about to look around when the floor underneath him suddenly changed and a large flock of doves suddenly started flying up all around him. Below him was a brightly lit stained glass platform with a young girl on it.

"Hello?" Sora called out to the void around him, but he got no response. "Ven? Vani?" There was still nothing. But this place, he didn't feel as afraid compared to his nightmare. Something about this...he didn't know how to explain, but he felt he was alright.

Sora walked around the platform, trying to figure out where he was when suddenly heard a sound behind him. Sora spun around and saw a small little creature with glowing yellow eyes.

"Ah! What is that!" Sora shouted as he backed up. He suddenly felt a weight in his hand though. He looked down to see a sword there. It reminded him of the swords Riku and him used when they play fought. Without giving a second thought Sora struck the sword at the creature and it disappeared. Soon more of the little shadowy creatures started to pop up. Sora charged at each of them and destroyed them within a few attacks.

The platform beneath him soon filled with a inky darkness. Slowly Sora started to sink into it. He cried out as he tried to bat away the darkness, but it was to no avail. The darkness consumed him, but it was only for a second. When the darkness cleared he found himself to be on a different stained glass platform than before.

He started to walk around when more of the shadowy monsters appearch. Sora gripped the sword tightly as he charged at the creatures. He had no idea what they were or why they were showing up, but he just kept fighting them. Upon destroying all the creatures on the platform he saw a small pathway leading up yet another platform. Sora quickly ran up, hoping to find an exit or at least someone else. But it was just another beautiful glowing stained glass platform.

He slowly started walking forward when he heard another sound behind him. " _More of those creatures?"_ Sora thought. He turned around and let out a gasp. It looked like it was another one of the creatures, but this one was several stories tall!

Instinctively Sora tried to run, but nearly ran off the edge of the platform. The pathway he had taken was now gone. He was trapped up here with it. He was going to have to fight it. With shaking hands Sora got himself into a battle position before lunging at the large creature. The fight was far harder than he though as the creature could release various attacks of darkness and summon the smaller darkness creatures. Sora knew he would not be able to keep up with it, his energy was almost gone.

While Sora tried to take a single moment to catch his breath he saw the large hand of the creature coming right towards him. The force of the hand hitting the ground knocked Sora back. Sora looked up, terrified as the darkness started to fill the platform again. He struggled to get out of it, as it slowly wrapped over his entire body. And then everything faded away into black.

* * *

And that wraps up ch14 as well as what we say is Arc 1. Arc 2 will be Kh1 of course. But we are still working on that. Hope you all enjoyed!


	15. Chapter 15

**Hey everyone! Welcome back to another chapter of Souls of the Heart! Woo! Ch15 is here and all that!  
**

 **Also so many BIG thanks to all you readers out there for this story! I am glad you all enjoy what we got in store for you! Now let's get on with the chapter!**

 **ALSO. We added a small scene back in ch8. It's just a small scene between Riku and Sora, but please check it out!**

* * *

 **Ch.15**

Sora slowly opened his eyes as he sat up. He blinked a few times to get his eyes in focus to find that he was back on the island, still resting on the beach.

' _ **Well it's about time you woke up,'**_ Vanitas said. ' _ **Now don't go falling back asleep.'**_

" _Hmhm... Sure,"_ Sora thought as he let out a yawn and slowly started to lay back down. But as soon as he did he saw a familiar girl standing over him. With a startled gasped Sora sat back up and turned around to face Kairi. "Don't scare me like that Kairi!" Sora said. He swore he could hear Ventus and Vanitas chuckling slightly, but he let is slide for now.

Kairi laughed, "Sora you're so lazy. I knew that I would find you snoozing down here."

' _You do tend to sleep here fairly often,'_ Ventus said in a light scolding tone.

' _ **Yeah, if you didn't want the girl to discover you than you should find a new place to nap,**_ ' Vanitas recommended.

' _He shouldn't be sleeping on the job at all._ '

Sora shook his head, quickly trying to think of a excuse. "No I wasn't sleeping! I was… I was…" Sora suddenly recalled what he had just dreamt in his small snooze time. "There was this his huge, black thing! It swallowed me up! I couldn't breathe! I couldn't-" Before Sora could continue Kairi gently bopped his on the head.

Kairi giggled again as Sora rubbed his head, "Are still dreaming?"

"It didn't feel like a dream! Or was it? I don't know…" Sora trailed off.

' _What do you mean a huge, black thing swallowed you up?'_ Ventus questioned.

" _I don't know how to explain… It was the strangest thing. I'll try to tell you guys later."_ Sora thought.

Sora turned his attention back to Kair, who was now standing by the shoreline. "It was really bizarre though. I wonder what it was…"

Kairi gave a small shrug, "If you say so."

' _ **Looks like the little princess doesn't believe you,**_ ' Vanitas grumbled.

' _It does sound weird…_ ' Ventus defended the petite redhead.

"Hey Kairi, I know I have asked before, but are you sure you don't remember what your home world was like?" Sora asked out of random curiosity. He wanted to change the subject away from his dream mostly because he felt a bit upset she didn't believe him.

"As I've said before… I just don't remember anything…" Kairi sighed. "I do wish I could though, so we could talk about it. Maybe if I remember Ven or Vani could tell you if they ever have been there."

' _Of course we would!_ '

' _ **Speak for yourself idiot.**_ '

"Yeah that would be really nice, but I bet we will be able to find your world out there. I really would like to see where you grew up," Sora said with a grin.

"It would be great to visit it again," Kairi said as she turned around to face Sora. "We're so close, it's just so exciting!"

"Hey!" Riku's voice called out. Both Kairi and Sora turned to see Riku walking towards them, carrying a log under his arm. "Don't you guys go forgetting about me." Riku walked a little closer before casually tossing the log over to Sora. "I guess I'm the only one actually working on the raft then."

Sora tried to catch the log, but ended up falling back to the ground with it.

' _Ouch. That must of hurt_ ,' Ventus muttered.

' _ **Mini-me is tougher than that a little fall like that is nothing,**_ ' Vanitas responded back to Ventus. ' _ **Maybe you should have a bit more faith in our host.**_ '

" _Well I didn't expect Riku to just throw it at me like that!"_ Sora retorted.

' _ **Exactly… the brat should have given you a warning, it's almost as if he was trying to embarass you…**_ ' Vanitas commented smoothly.

Sora pouted slightly at Vanitas comment. He was about to reply when he noticed Riku sitting down next to him. He finally brought his attention back to the other conversation.

"How about we have a race?" Kairi suggested as he jumped up and down excitedly.

"Huh?" Sora asked, trying to figure out if he missed anything else being said.

"What, are you kidding?"

Kairi giggled once more before shouting, "Ready? Go!"

Sora and Riku looked at each other for a single second before jumping to their feet. The two took off running along the shoreline, with Kairi just a little ways behind them.

' _ **After all the training we did you can crush the brat in this race,**_ ' Vanitas encouraged in how own way.

' _Woo! You can do it Sora!_ ' Was Ventus's bubbly cheer.

Sora laughed as he managed to keep pace with Riku all the way to the other side of the island. Once all three of them made it there they stopped to catch their breaths and relaxed for a bit. After all of that the three went to various areas of the island to gather more supplies for their raft. After a brief discussion with Kairi on what items remained, Sora went about the island to get all of them. All he needed to get for today was two logs, some cloth, and rope. And he knew where all of the items where laying.

While he did he saw Riku brining his items over to the other side of the island. As soon as Sora had gathered up a few items he then saw Riku was now sitting down on the paopu tree. Sora paused as he looked over at Riku, " _You think after I get the rest of my supplied I should challenge Riku again? Or should I fight again Tidus, Wakka, or Selphie first?"_ Sora asked in his thoughts.

' _ **Those weaklings? They won't provide much in the way of practice,**_ ' Vanitas grumbled.

' _You could warm up against them, but if you wear yourself out, than the fight against Riku will be a lot harder._ '

" _I'll be able to handle it,"_ Sora thoughtfully chuckled. " _Plus...the other three...they are friends too. I don't wanna leave them out of having fun."_

' _ **You say they are friends, but I don't think you trust them that much since you didn't tell them about us…**_ ' Vanitas spoke reasonably.

Sora tensed up slightly, " _It's not that I don't trust them… I just...I don't think a lot of people should know about you guys. I do see them as friends though…"_

' _ **That is true, I would rather if no one knew about us. Still you have to admit to yourself that if you truly trusted them they would be aware of us. Besides… why do you want to be friends with the weak trio?**_ '

Sora frowned, " _They are still nice people. They were never the ones who bullied me. They aren't that weak though! I still have trouble beating all three of them at once."_

' _ **That it takes all three of them at once to try and have a chance of beating you means they are weak. Besides they may never have actively bullied you, but they never did anything for you either. They left you at the mercy of the psychopath brat. They stood off to the side and did nothing while everyone else laughed at you. That is just as bad as the actual bullying.**_ '

' _They apologize though! They were just kids after all at the time!'_ Ventus came in.

' _ **So? From what I have learned, parents should teach their kids bullying is wrong, before they even start at this school of theirs.**_ '

" _Guys...just drop it. Main point is I see them as some friends. While they may not be as close as Riku or Kairi.. I am still glad to have them as friends,"_ Sora sighed heavily.

' _ **Are you? After all your planning to leave them behind aren't you?**_ ' Vanitas asked with a bit of a sneer in his voice.

Sora frowned, " _The raft plan is only between me, Kairi and Riku. It would be too hard if they also knew about it. Let's just forget about it...I'll just challenge Riku for the day…"_ Sora sighed once more and continued gathering the rest of his items. Once Sora had brought over his items for the raft he ran to the smaller islands.

"Hey Riku, ready for another fight?" Sora said as he picked up his wooden sword.

Riku smiled as he jumped off the tree and picked up his own sword. "Alright, you're on."

The two collided with their swords for a moment before both of them jump back from one another. Riku was still far stronger than Sora, but over the years of getting training help from Ventus and Vanitas, he was able to dodge most of Riku's attacks. Most. Sora had just jumped out of the way of one of Riku's attacks and was regaining his composure when he felt the side of the sword collided with his side. He felt back to the ground and saw Riku standing next to him with the sword pointed at him.

"You were close, but I win again." Riku said before helping Sora back up.

"Yeah, but I still got more wins than you right now," Sora boosted cheerfully. "Though the score is 49 to 46 now, but I still am in the lead." Within the last few years the boys had started keeping track of their wins and loses against one another. Just as a fun competition thing. Though at the start of each year they would restart their count, as if they had kept track of every single win in total, they would have lost track by this point.

Riku chuckled, "Well we will see about that."

' _ **Just because he is a year old doesn't mean he will always be stronger. With more training you can crush him in every single battle.**_ '

' _If Sora won every battle though, it would get boring after a while.'_ Ventus said.

' _ **You would rather he be pathetic and weak? Oh… wait I guess you would since that's what you are.**_ ' Vanitas commented snidely.

' _Hey….'_ Ventus started, but he didn't continue.

" _Vanitas, lay off!"_ Sora scolded as he scrunched up his nose. It didn't happen often, but there were times where Vanitas seemed crueler and ruder than normal. It was rather hard to deal with him when he was like that, and today seemed like it was going to be one of those days.

"Did Vanitas say something?" Riku asked, figuring out something must have been up by Sora's expression.

"Yeah, he is just being moody today," Sora replied. "He just said some rude things to Ven is all. So I told him to stop."

"I wonder what's got him like that today?" Riku wondered.

Sora shrugged, "You never know with Vani. He never tells how he really feels."

' _ **It's having to deal with you incompetent idiots each day every day,**_ ' Vanitas snarked.

' _Well you are stuck with us, so too bad for you,"_ Ventus replied with a chuckle.

" _Just try to lighten up Vani, we are all having fun here,"_ Sora said. " _Ven is right, not everything needs to be about winning."_

' _ **When your dying because you lost a fight, and all those precious to you are dying, bleeding out… don't come whining to me. Because if you take life seriously than yes winning is everything. If your not winning you're losing, and that leads to the people you care about being hurt.**_ '

Sora looked down at the ground and let out a long sigh. He felt conflicted by Vantias's words. He did want to protect those dear to him, but he didn't really believe that he had to win everything in order to do so. He was taught that life had its ups and downs. Not everyone could have the perfect life and be great at everything. Sure he had won plenty of fights against Riku, but Riku also won some as well. Sora knew that Riku also cared and wanted to protect everyone… So shouldn't he also win at everything if Vanitas was right? But that would mean Sora would have to lose in order for Riku to win. It was all just too confusing.

"Sora? You alright? What happened now?" Riku asked.

Sora looked back up and shook his head, "Nothing. It's nothing. Vanitas just being himself…" Without a word more Sora walked off the small island and headed back down to the shoreline. As soon as he was down there he sat down and sighed again. He ran his fingers along the sand as he thought over everything again.

' _Ignore Vanitas, he's just being mean. Why don't you work on that raft of yours._ '

Later on the sun had begun to set, glisting over the ocean. Tidus, Wakka, and Selphie had already headed home for the day, but the other three still remained on the island. They always did so they could watch the sunset together on the smaller island. Sora and Kairi sat on the base of the paopu tree while Riku leaned against it.

"So out there really is Kairi's home?" Sora asked.

"Yeah probably. But we'll never know by just staying here."

"But can I raft really take us that far? To other worlds?" Sora asked, recalling how Vanitas was the only one to comment on it being bad idea.

Riku shrugged a little, "Who knows… maybe it can. I we have to, we'll think of something else."

' _ **Yes, because a raft will actually get you to another world, what sort of logic does that come from?**_ '

' _You never know Vani,'_ Ventus said. ' _Anything could happen.'_

"Now suppose we do get to another world. What would you do when you got there?" Kairi asked with a giggle.

"Well…" Riku paused for a moment, "I haven't really thought about that part. It's just… I've always wondered why we're here on this island. From what Ven and Vani have said there are a lot of other worlds out there. So out of all those worlds, why did we end up on this one? But even with that...with all those other worlds out there, that makes ours just a little piece of something so much greater. It's possible we could have ended up somewhere else, right?"

Sora nodded as he laid back against the tree, "Yeah makes sense, Ven and Vani are from a different world, and same for Kairi. Yet all of you are here now."

' _I kinda remember something… being in this place before… before I was to have some kind of fight,_ ' Ventus muttered out loud.

Sora's eyes widened as he sat back up, "Wait! You've been here before Ven?"

Both Riku and Kairi looked over at Sora. "What?" Riku asked.

"Ven said that he was here once before," Sora stated.

' _I don't remember much… I think I met someone here… I think… Vanitas… did we meet here, before we ended up in Sora's heart?'_

Vanitas remained quiet for a moment a soft hum the only response to let them know he was thinking, ' _ **I think we might have,**_ ' He finally stated.

"Ven and Vani say that they once were here and ran into each other," Sora said, relaying it to Riku and Kairi.

"Really when?" Kairi asked.

"They were here before they joined with my heart," Sora answered.

"Do they remember why they were here?" Riku then asked.

' _No...I don't remember that much.'_

' _ **Neither do I.'**_

Sora sighed and shook his head, "Sadly they still don't remember all that much."

"Well I bet if we go out there, into other worlds they may remember. Just sitting here isn't going to change a thing. It's the same old stuff. That's why we have to go," Riku said as he looked out at the sunset again.

"You've been thinking a lot about this lately, haven't you?" Kairi asked as she smiled.

Riku nodded, "Thanks to Ven, Vani, and you. If Ven and Vani hadn't joined within Sora's heart and if you hadn't come here, I probably would've never thought of any of this. So thanks, all of you."

Kairi smiled sweetly, "You're welcome."

' _ **Ugh, how pathetically sappy.**_ ' Vanitas grumbled.

' _Oh shut up Vani, I know you think its cute as well._ '

' _ **No I don't.**_ '

Sora chuckled, "I know Vani won't ever say 'you're welcome' but I can tell means it probably."

Vanitas groaned, ' _ **You have infected mini-me with your stupid sappy-ness…**_ '

Both Ventus and Sora laughed while Vanitas just grumbled in annoyance. Sora of course then informed Riku and Kairi what Vanitas had said, much to Vanitas's displeasure. The group chatting a little bit more before the sun had almost completely set. Kairi started to make her way back to the boats first, with Riku and Sora a bit behind.

Sora was halfway across the bridge when he heard Riku call out his name. Sora turned around and quickly reacted as something was thrown at him. A paopu fruit.

"You wanted one, didn't you?" Riku asked with a slight grin on his face.

"A paopu fruit…" Sora muttered as he stared down at it.

"You know the stories. If two people share one, their destinies become intertwined. They'll remain a part of each other's lives no matter what." Riku said as he walked passed Sora, the grin not leaving his face. "C'mon, I know you wanna try it." Riku laughed as he walked away, There was a strong teasing tone in his voice.

"Wh-What?..." Sora said, though knew exactly why Riku had said that. He knew for a fact that Riku was teasing him. He wanted to say some witty comeback, but he couldn't think of anything.

' _ **I bet that brat wants it more… I've seen the way he ogles the little princess.**_ '

' _Of course Sora ogles Kairi as well…_ ' Ventus said slyly.

Sora could feel his cheeks redden, "Come on guys...cut it out…" He spoke aloud seeing as he was the only one left on the island now.

' _ **If you weren't so easy to tease they wouldn't do it so often,**_ ' Vanitas advised him with snort.

' _Sora and Kairi sitting in a tree K-I-S-S-I-N-G, first comes love, then comes marriage, then comes the baby in the baby carriage!_ ' Ventus started singing causing Sora to blush more.

Vanitas gave a snort as he replied back, ' _ **Then comes blame, then comes despair, two hearts damaged beyond repair. Kairi leaves Sora and takes the children. D-I-V-O-R-C-E.**_ ' He responds his voice completely flat.

Sora's eyes widened as he gasped. He then sighed as his face formed into a scowl, "That wasn't very funny Vani…"

' _Where did you even hear that?_ ' Ventus demanded.

Vanitas gave a scoff, ' _ **What it's true… typically most marriages end in divorce.**_ '

' _Still… that was uncalled for,_ ' Ventus replied.

' _ **I thought you wanted me to complete the riddle since you left off the second half,**_ ' Vanitas said a hint of puzzlement in his voice.

' _I just wanted to tease Sora, not make him feel bad.'_

' _ **Did I make you feel bad mini-me?**_ ' Vanitas questioned, his voice still holding confusion in it as if he didn't realize what he said was rude.

There was a pause before Sora responded, his eyes shifted down to the paopu fruit and then off to the sea, "Let's just… forget about it. Okay?" Sora then tossed the paopu fruit off into the water and started heading for the boat to take back home. As he walked he placed a hand over his heart momentarily. It was hard to sense, but there was the slightest stinging feeling in Sora's heart.

Vani was quiet before he muttered, ' _ **I apologize… for my insensitivity.**_ '

Sora didn't say a word until he was sitting down in his boat, rowing back towards the mainland. "Are you really…?" There was a slight bit of uncertainty in his voice.

Vanitas sighed, ' _ **Yes I am, I was… unaware how that might come across… I truly thought that Ventus was leaving the second part to me… will you forgive me, Sora?**_ '

There was again another pause before Sora slowly nodded his head, "Yeah…" Though he forgave Vanitas, there was still the slight hint of sadness in his voice.

' _ **I am sure that whoever you end up with, whether it be Kairi or some other girl… I'm sure you will have a happy ever after,**_ ' Vanitas scowled as he felt Ventus's amusement at him.

A small smiled formed across Sora's face, "Thanks Vani."

Vanitas didn't respond, but Sora knew it was because the dark haired boy was embarrassed.

' _I bet if we could see Vani right now, he would be blushing like crazy,'_ Ventus said smugly.

Sora laughed, now feeling a bit better. "Yeah! It's really fun to tease Vani. He has some great reactions to being teased sometimes."

' _ **Hey! You're being mean right after I apologized. That is not very nice.**_ '

' _Always trying to defend yourself when you're embarrassed. It's a little cute.'_ Ventus laughed.

' _ **Oh shut up Ventus, you always get too flustered to even speak**_!' Vanitas retorted.

"No that's usually you Vani," Sora added in with a chuckle.

Vanitas growled, ' _ **Fine I guess you don't want my help for training then.**_ '

"Hey we are just teasing a little is all. Don't get all 'Mr. Grumpy' on us," Sora replied, having dealt with a grumpy Vanitas many times before. "We'll stop okay?"

' _ **Hmpf,'**_ was the only answer they got.

Ventus couldn't but chuckle again. After ten years of being with Vanitas like this, within Sora's heart, he still couldn't believe how much Vanitas had changed. He could still recall the memories from before, back before he joined Sora. He remembered how cruel and rude Vanitas was. Causing trouble everywhere and fighting against him. But now… things felt different. Vanitas had changed over the years. He was still a bit cruel or rude at times, but not at all like before. Being with Sora had changed him. Living with Sora had changed both of them, but Ventus didn't mind. He once saw Vanitas as his enemy, but now he actually saw him… like a brother. Both of them, two brothers together, watching over their little brother Sora.

* * *

 **And that ends another chapter of this story. So yes we will be going through the KH1 story but with this version of Sora with Ventus and Vanitas. So different interactions and such!**

 **But it will take more time before we get there. As of right now this was the last prewritten chapter** **TheDeadGirlRisen and I** **had. And now that summer is over and we both got college, our time is a little more limited. So the next chapter may not happen for a little while. But please bear with us as we get to it when we can.**

 **I know I say it a lot, but thank you all so much for reading this story!**


	16. Chapter 16

**TODAY is January 29th! Kingdom Hearts 3 has been released worldwide!**

 **And so we have finally finished up this chapter! And now TheDeadGirlRisen (my co author in this) has made a cool cover art for this!**

 **So sorry for the wait, but let's get to it!**

* * *

 **Chapter 16**

The following morning Sora woke up and got ready to head out to the island. He prepared what he needed to bring and then headed out to the docks area of the mainland. Soon he got to the docks and got into his small boat. On the way to the island Sora started to think things over for the day.

" _So after I gather up the items we need for today, what do you guys think we should do first?"_ Sora asked with his thoughts. He always found it easier than verbally saying it, and plus he had gotten use to it over the years.

' _ **We should train some more…'**_ Vanitas said in a slightly worried sounding tone.

Ventus being perceptive asked, ' _What is it?'_

' _ **I don't know… something feels different though.'**_

" _What do you mean? Different how?"_ Sora thought-asked.

There was a pause for a moment before Vanitas responded. ' _ **I'm not sure… be careful… whatever this is… it reminds me of pain, and destruction.'**_

' _Hmm…'_ Ventus hummed as he thought things over. What Vanitas had to say did concern him, but he couldn't think of anything to say or ask back.

" _Well… if you say so,"_ Sora responded as they approached the island.

When Sora docked his boat he saw that Riku and Kairi were already there, as well as Selphie, Tidus and Wakka. He looked around to see them hanging out at different spots of the island. Thoughts from yesterday's conversation came back. He started to feel a little bad that he didn't train with any of them. Even though he wasn't as close with them, he still enjoyed the times when he did train with them. Sora started to feel conflicted again over the whole situation, and his feelings were obvious to sense. Sora started to walk by them as he first had to meet up with Kairi and Riku on the other side of the island.

Vanitas sighed. He felt as though Sora should just get over it, that it was no big deal, but he knew that Sora also somehow cared for other people's feelings. ' _ **Just go fight with them today.'**_

" _Huh? Really?"_ Sora asked, surprised at Vanitas's words. He was sure Vanitas would just tell him to forget about them again. But this really did surprise him.

Vanitas huffed in annoyance.

' _Wow Vani said that without giving some rude remark about them. Sora, I think he's growing up,'_ Ventus said, as he had a hard time containing his laughter.

Vanitas growled at Ventus. ' _ **Between the three of us you're the most stupidest one here.'**_

' _But what does that make you then?'_ Ventus asked.

' _ **It makes me smarter than you,'**_ Vanitas retorted.

Sora chuckled as he listened to the small banter between Vanitas and Ventus. He remembered their banters use to be much harsher at one another for some reason, but over the years they both had lighten up about. Sora never figured out why that was, but didn't think he needed to ask about it.

Moments later Sora entered onto the other side of the island where Kairi and Riku were waiting. Riku was sitting off to the side after Sora came through the door that divided the sections of the island.

Sora walked over to him and sat down. "Hey Riku, what's up?"

"I'm thinking about the raft," Riku replied. "It still needs a name. I was thinking Highwind. What would you want to call it though?"

"Hmm…Let's see..." Sora hummed as he thought about the idea. " _You guys have any ideas?"_

' _How about… Hm…'_ Ventus started to say as he thought the idea over. Suddenly a single word came to his mind, though he had no idea why. ' _Wayfinder.'_

" _Wayfinder?"_ Sora asked.

' _Yeah… I feel it means something… but I can't remember what,'_ Ventus replied with a sigh. It still bothered him that there was so much from his past he still couldn't remember.

' _ **Well for me personally, I think giving a name to pieces of wood that are tied together is stupid and pointless,'**_ Vanitas grumbled.

" _It's the spirit of it though, all mighty sea vessels have to have a cool name!_ " Sora protested.

' _ **This isn't a 'mighty sea vessel' it is just a small dinky looking raft that will probably fall apart as soon as a wave hits it and then you will end up drowning.**_ '

Sora tensed up, but he did his best to keep a normal expression. He didn't want to worry or concern Riku over the situation. But he did start to worry on the inside. The imagery from his nightmare the other night came flooding back. The nightmare of losing Riku and Kairi at sea. He never did tell Vanitas and Ventus about the specifics of the nightmare… now he wish he had… because he knew Vanitas wouldn't be as harsh then about the situation.

Sora decided to push away Vanitas's thoughts and get back to the main conversation. "Well Ven says Wayfinder and Vanitas doesn't care. I like Ven's idea for Wayfinder."

"Hey, how about-"

"The usual?" Sora completed Riku's sentence with a grin.

"Let's do it!" Riku agreed with a nod.

The boys jumped to their feet as Riku and started to quickly prepare for their upcoming race. Kairi walked over closer to them as she giggled enthusiastically.

"You guys going to have another race? All right then! I'll be the judge. You guys know the usual, racing from here to the tree over there and then back again," Kairi instructed as she pointed to the large tree across half of the island.

Sora was excited as he enjoyed the competition against Riku, but he knew that Riku was still more agile than him. Sora stretched though as he still was ready for the race.

' _You can do it Sora!'_

' _ **Remember the route we picked out last time, it should shave off a second or to which can help you win.'**_

Sora nodded in agreement as he and Riku took their places for where they would start the race. Just before they were going to start, Sora had one small idea he wanted to say to Riku.

"How about if I win, not only do we name the raft what I want, but also I get to be captain?"

Riku smiled. "All right, but that means you gotta beat me."

Sora smiled back, with confidence flowing across his face. "Yeah I will!"

Both boys then looked over to Kairi, who was ready to start the race. They took into their starting positions as Kairi started the countdown for the race to begin. As soon as she shouted 'go' boh Riku and Sora took off running as fast as they could across the bridge. At the start they were keeping good pace with each other, but slowly Riku started to pull ahead.

Sora took in a deep breath as he pushed himself to run a bit faster, though after a few seconds, his legs really started to feel it. Thankfully though he had made it past the bridge and decided to take the path that lead up a ladder to the mini zip line. This was the quicker way to the goal, but it was far tricker as Sora would have to jump across tree tops to make it there. He grabbed hold of the zipline handle and flew down to the platform at the other end of the island.

' _Get ready to jump!_ '

Sora nodded as he prepared to make the jump across the treetops. He pushed all his energy and strength into jumping and pushed off the treetop. He landed easily onto the next treetop and steadied himself until he felt ready to jump to the next part. While the trees were different heights, Sora knew he could manage getting to each one as long as he jumped at the right time and edge of the tree.

Soon enough Sora found himself right before the rocky edge with the star check point. He quickly turned around and saw that Riku was closing in behind him. He jumped forward onto the platform and touched the star before jumping back towards the ground. He only had to make it back to Kairi now and he would be the winner. But he still had to keep ahead of Riku.

' _ **Focus Sora. You can do this.'**_ Vanitas commanded.

" _Yeah I got this,"_ Sora replied back quickly as he focused on running across the bridge.

He could hear the fast-paced footsteps of Riku behind him, but he didn't once look back. He kept going until he reached back where Kairi was.

"And Sora is the winner!" Kairi announced cheerfully.

Sora smiled as he pumped his fists into the air. "Yes! I did it!"

"You won this race like it's the biggest thing ever. It's not the first time you've done that," Riku said with a brief huff of air.

"Yeah, but I hardly ever win against you in races," Sora commented.

"Yeah I know…" Riku said as he glanced out to the ocean, not wanting to say anything else.

' _ **Oh boo hoo Riku lost its the end of the world, you should tell your friend there to lighten up. He should be more happy for you.'**_ Vanitas muttered with a snort.

" _Oh quit your complaining." Ventus commented. "You know Riku truly is happy for Sora."_

' _ **Sure, sure… and that's why I feel negative emotions from him'**_ vanitas replied before going quite.

" _Don't be so harsh Vanitas. Riku just may be a bit sad that I still hold the winning streak right now."_ Sora said as he stretched a little, watching Riku walk off elsewhere on the island.

' _ **Hmm**_ ' Vanitas hummed in agreement.

With nothing more from Vanitas or Ventus, Sora decided to make his way to where Kairi was, who was now standing on the raft that was resting on the shore. Once he was there Kairi smiled at him and spoke up. She told him about the food items that he would have to get for their trip, all of the items though would be things he could easily get from the island.

Sora made his way around the island, picking up the various items he needed. On his way through gathering things he ended up having brief talks with Selphie, Tidus and then Wakka. It didn't take long before Sora had gotten everything he needed for the day, so he headed back to drop off the items with Kairi. When he got back to her he saw that she was making something. A small object was in her hands as she was making small ties and knots in it.

"Whatcha got there Kairi?" Sora asked as he placed his items down.

Kairi look up at him. "This thing? I'm making a necklace of thalassa shells. In the old days, sailors always wore thalassa shells. They were supposed to ensure a safe voyage. See this?"

Kairi held up the object for Sora to see. It wasn't complete, but Sora could see it was forming the shape of a star, but it was made up of seashells. "It's a charm to help us find each other if we ever get separated. The three of us will always be together."

" _It looks familiar… kinda like… like a wayfinder."_ Ventus said softly and distantly.

Something about seeing the star-shaped object was pulling his attention to far off memories. Memories that were still blurry, but he knew whatever they were that they were important to him. Suddenly a faint voice from those memories seemed to be slightly clearer than before. The voice was hard to make out, but Ven was able to hear just a few small words. " _...an unbreakable connection…nothing can ever drive you apart…. always find your way back to each other…"_

Ventus gasped quietly. That voice. He knew that voice. But… who was it? Ventus recalled the time he had seen a flash of imaged through Sora's eyes. The blue haired woman was the first thought that came to mind. ' _Was...that something… she said?'_

" _What are you talking about Ven?"_ Sora asked, snapping Ventus back to reality.

' _I'm… not sure, I thought I remembered something. A lady with blue hair… and… I don't know… she seemed familiar.'_

" _What brought that about though? Did you remember anything about your home or anything else?"_ Sora asked, curious to see what it was that Ventus had remembered.

' _The wayfinder Kairi showed you, the words she said, it just sparked something I guess.'_

' _ **A blue haired woman… that does seem familiar to me… along with a feeling of… spite… and hatred.'**_ Suddenly Van growled. ' _ **She… she had something… took something? That was mine. It was mine and she had no right to it.'**_

' _What do you mean? What did she take?'_ Ventus asked, rather confused by what Vanitas had said.

 _'_ ** _I don't know… what was it?'_ **Vanitas huffed in anger _. '_ ** _I don't know just that it was important to me. It belonged to me. It was mine.'_ **He said posessively.

' _You can't even remember what it is? How do I know you aren't just making this up or something?'_

Vanitas growled, ' _ **Oh like you remember everything clearly huh?! I'm trying to remember, but I'm not remembering what it is.'**_

Sora frowned, " _Guys, please don't argue. I'm sure Van will remember in time. You two seem to be remembering things a lot more recently! Maybe you guys are finally getting your memories back!"_ He suggested excitedly.

' _I really hope so… It would be nice to finally remember everything. The wayfinder was at least a bit helpful,'_ Ventus commented with a sigh.

Not knowing what else to really say to Ventus, Sora continued on his way to find things to do around the island. After a bit of wandering Sora decided to go to the secret hideout for a bit. Not just to look around, but also just relax. Sora entered the tunnel of the dark and shadowy cave like he always did. Nothing felt out of the ordinary, but for some reason Sora felt a quick chill down his spine. He tried to not pay any attention to it and continued on.

* * *

 **And that ends that for now. More to come when we get the chance and all.**

 **BIG thanks to everyone who has been reading this. We never expected it to get so popular. So thank you so much!**


	17. Chapter 17

**Happy Valentine's Day! Here is another chapter of Souls of the Heart! Woo!**

* * *

 **Ch.17**

As Sora walked along the walls of the cave, he looked around at all of the drawings. He smiled as he remembered all of the fun times he had in here, drawing on the walls. His eyes then fell on two particular drawings. There was the drawing he and Kairi had done of each other. It still made him smile each time he saw it. Since he knew he had some time to kill he sat down in front of the wall, picked up a rock and started to draw something else near their faces. A few minutes later he had drawn a nice looking hand from his face holding out a Paopu fruit to Kairi's

' _You have gotten so good at drawing!_ ' Ventus told him happily.

' _ **Your skills at artwork has definitely improved.'**_

Sora smiled. "Thanks guys." He decided to comment a loud since he was the only one in the cave at the time being. He started to leaned back a bit and stared at the hand he had drawn. But just as he was about to relax, he heard a odd sound from somewhere in the cave.

Sora jumped to his feet as his body started to tense up. Was someone else here? He thought that everyone else was outside of the cave. He thought that he was the only one here… was he mistaken? Had… someone else heard him speaking aloud?

"R-Riku? Kairi? Are either of you here?" He called out, an uneasy feeling washing over him.

"I've come to see the door to this world," a deep and mysterious voice replied.

Sora completely froze. Someone else was here. There was someone else in the cave with him. He tried to looked around, but he could only see dark shadows at the edges of the cave. Part of him wanted to run, but he was too scared to move. Whomever this was may have heard him. They could have heard him talking and thought he was talking to himself.

"W-What?" Sora asked nervously.

"This world has been connected," the voice replied.

Sora shifted slightly and managed to take one step back. "Wh-What do you mean?"

"Tied to the darkness... Soon to be completely eclipsed," the voice said.

" _Guys…"_ Sora thought to Ventus and Vanitas. " _What should I do."_

' _I don't know… be careful.. This person…'_ Ventus trailed off.

' _ **I don't like this person… he… makes me nervous.'**_ Vanitas admitted hesitantly.

Sora thought he should just turn and run. If Ventus and Vanitas felt uneasy by the mysterious voice, then it probably was something bad. But… there also was a small bit of curiosity in him. He found a small part of him wanting to know more. Sora squinted to try and see if he could figure out where the person was coming from, and sure enough he did. Standing opposite of him seemed to be someone draped in a brown robe.

"Wh-Where did you come from? H-How did you get in here?" Sora asked, nervousness still in his voice.

"You do not yet know what lies beyond the door," the voice ominously replied.

" _What does he mean by that?"_ Sora questioned in his thoughts. " _What door?"_

' _ **I am unsure,**_ ' Vanitas told him.

Ven was silent a moment longer before he said, ' _I think… he's talking about the gateway to the other worlds?_ '

" _What?! Seriously?"_ Sora thought before looked back at the robed person. He wasn't sure if he would get a good answer, but he thought to try. "You… You mean you're from another world?"

"There is so very much to learn. You understand so little."

Sora pouted slightly at that response. It was far from what he wanted. It didn't give him any clues or answers to who this guy was or what he was doing in the cave. "You're wrong! I understand a lot! But I can still learn more! I'll learn about everything out there."

There was a pause before the voice spoke again. "A meaningless effort. One who knows nothing can understand nothing."

A sudden chill flew through the cave and Sora's attention was drawn to the strange door that was in the cave. He had nearly forgotten about it. He stared at it for a bit longer, starting to wonder again what it's purpose was. When he looked back to where the robed person was, he saw they were no longer there.

"Ah! Where did he go?" Sora questioned aloud.

' _I'm unsure…_ ' Ventus answered.

There was a pause before Vanitas commented on the situation. ' _ **I can sense some lingering darkness.'**_

" _Darkness really? You think who ever that was used darkness?"_ Sora asked, this time in his thoughts, just in case anyone else showed up.

' _ **I believe that it is very likely,'**_ he admitted before falling silent.

" _Oh… I see. Well I hope whomever it was doesn't come back,"_ Sora thought as he started to make his way out of the cave.

' _I don't think that we will get our wish.'_ Ventus said _._

Sora sighed a little as he exited back out of the cave. He then spend the remainder of the day with Kairi and Riku. Soon enough though the sun was beginning to set. Riku headed home a bit earlier though as he had to help his family with something for that evening. It was just Sora and Kairi left on the island now. They both sat on the dock next to the boats as they watched the sunset.

"I still can't believe it," Kairi commented.

"Can't believe what?" Sora asked.

"We're almost there. We've almost done it. But…" Kairi trailed off as she continued to watch the sun's light dance across the water.

Sora turned to look at her. "But what? Is something wrong?"

"Well…" Kairi started to say as she looked back at Sora. A little look of uncertainty filled her eyes.

"You okay?" Sora asked.

"I don't know… I think I am just a little afraid. I'm still a little afraid of what we will find out there or what we will see. Though… I know I can always come back here," Kairi said as she turned around to look at the island. She then looked back at Sora. "Right?"

' _ **Of course she can, once you brats figure out how to travel across worlds you will be free to come and go as you please.'**_ Vanitas grumbled, finding Kairi's insecurities to be stupid.

' _It's true that you will be able to come back,'_ Ventus agreed.

Sora reached out and placed a hand on top of Kairi's. He gave her the best smile he could. "Of course! Plus Ven and Vani confirmed we would be able to so you know it's true. Plus I would make sure we all could return here whenever we wanted."

Kairi smiled back. "Well that's good to hear. I feel more reassured now that I know that." She paused for a moment as she gazed back out at the sea. "Sora, don't ever change."

"Huh? What do you mean?" Sora asked her as she stood up.

"You know what I mean," she replied sweetly.

Vanitas made a retching noise inside of his head.

Sora did his best to ignore Vantias's reaction and focus on what Kairi had to say next.

"I can't wait though. Once we set sail, it will be great."

* * *

A few hours had gone by and it was now early evening time and Sora laid on top of his bed. The events from that day still lingered in his head. Thankfully his parents were in the kitchen making dinner, so they wouldn't really hear him if he spoke aloud. He was to old for him to still have 'imaginary friends.' So since he had learned how to communicate silently with Ventus and Vanitas he made it seem as if he had 'outgrown' his need for imaginary friends.

"I still can't believe this is happening. Like… we are really going to go out and see other worlds."

' _Yes we are,_ ' Ventus said excitedly.

' _ **I still don't believe it will work,'**_ Vanitas muttered.

"Why do you keep being so pessimistic about this Vani?" Sora asked. "I don't get it."

' _ **It's just logical. If all people who sailed on the ocean ended up finding another world, don't you think all of Destiny Islands would know by now? Obviously there has to be another way for us to travel across worlds,'**_ Vanitas said flatly.

"But… maybe… I don't know…" Sora said as he sighed slightly. He glanced out his window.

' _ **We… might be lucky to find new land…'**_ Vanitas stated hesitantly, ' _ **I'm just saying that it is highly unlikely we will find a new world by sailing the ocean.'**_

"Hmm yeah…" Sora said as he sighed again.

Suddenly a bright flash of light came from far out in the sky. Sora sat straight up and stared out his window. Another bright flash followed soon after and Sora could see that the sky was filled with dark storm clouds.

"I didn't know there would be a storm tonight... Ah! The raft! The storm could destroy it!"

' _The storm looks like it's going to pretty vicious… it's not safe to go outside.'_ Ventus warned him.

"But the raft! I have to make sure it's okay!" Sora said as he jumped off his bed. He started to make his way to his door. He made sure to grab his wooden sword, just in case. He knew he would have to carefully sneak past his parents in order to get to the front door.

' _It's not safe! You could get hurt!'_

Vanitas huffed a bit before he said, ' _ **If Sora is quick about it he can get the raft put away, and back to safety before the storm hits.'**_

' _Fine… just be quick Sora._ '

" _I'll be safe,"_ Sora said in his thoughts, now that he was sneaking through the house. " _It won't take that long probably. I'll be back before supper is finished."_

Sora finally had snuck out of the house and made his way down to the docks where his boat was. Thankfully it had not started raining yet, there was only a slight wind. Sora managed to make it across the waters though to the island. But when he got there he looked up to see something in the sky. It looked to be a large orb of energy that hung right above the island. WInd and darkness seemed to swirl around it.

Sora slowly got out of his boat as he continued to stare at it, gripping his wooden sword tightly. "What is… What is that?"

' _ **I don't know, but I can feel the darkness on it,'**_ Vanitas cautioned.

"Really? What could have caused that?" Sora wondered before looking at the dock more carefully. He let out a gasp. "Hey! Riku's boat is here! As well as Kairi's! They're here too!"

' _I hope that they are all right,'_ Ventus commented.

"We gotta find them!" Sora said as he ran onto the island. "Maybe Riku and Kairi are somewhere safe together."

Sora only got a few steps onto the island when strange pools of darkness formed all over the shores. From those pools of darkness little strange creates started to emerge. They were completely black like darkness, but had two yellow glowing eyes. There was many of them appearing all around the island now.

' _Heartless!_ ' Ventus shouted, causing Sora to wince a bit.

" _What is a Heartless?_ " Sora questioned eyeing the things cautiously. He held up his wooden sword as he tried to avoid the small creatures.

' _Well.. it's hard to explain. But basically they are creatures of darkness. It would be best to avoid them.'_

Sora nodded. "Got it."

Sora tried his best to run past all of the Heartless. As he did he saw something on the small island. "Riku!" Sora shouted as he started to head in that direction. He ran up to the bridge and started to cross it, still avoiding all the Heartless that kept appearing. When he got close enough he saw that Riku was staring up at the orb in the sky. He stood there unmoving, focused intently on it.

"Riku!" Sora shouted now that he was closer. "Are you okay? Where is Kairi? Did she come here at the same time as you?"

"The door has opened..." Riku muttered loudly, still not facing Sora.

"What? Door? What are you talking about?"

Riku slowly turned around to look at Sora. "The door has opened, Sora! Now we can go to the outside world! We don't need to raft anymore!"

' _ **He is saying the same thing that weirdo from earlier was saying.'**_ Vanitas pointed out.

Sora let out a shaky breath. He knew Vanitas was right about that. Riku was talking about some door, just like the voice from before. He didn't like the look of the weird orb or the way Riku was talking.

"Riku… what are you even saying? That stuff isn't important right now. We have to find where Kairi is. Are you sure you haven't-"

"Kairi's coming with us!" Riku shouted abruptly causing Sora to flinch slightly.

"B-But…" Sora started to say, but he was too quiet to be heard.

Riku looked up at the orb once again. "Sora. This is our chance. It may be our only chance. If we don't take it now it may never happen again. We may never see our parents again, but there is no turning back. Come on, don't Ven and Vani have something to say about this?"

' _While I want us to see the other worlds, I don't think that this is the way to do it,_ ' Ventus said nervously.

' _ **This will be our own chance to escape though, once we are out on the different worlds we can figure a better way to travel, but this is like a miracle. We have been wanting to escape and see the other worlds! And here it is! We have to take the risk,'**_ Vanitas said excitedly.

' _But.. this is obviously made of darkness! It will hurt us!_ ' Ventus argued back.

Vanitas seemed confused, ' _ **Why would the darkness hurt us? It has never hurt me before.'**_

Sora frowned, confused and worried and scared as the two continued to argue back and forth, he looked at Riku with a helpless expression.

"I-I… I don't know…" Sora replied hestianly, his head aching slightly from the duo's argument.

"You don't have to be afraid Sora," Riku replied. "I'll be there for you after all."

Sora tried to smile, feeling a little better upon hearing that from his friend. He slowly tried to take a step forward, though the wind was picking up even more than before.

"We don't have to be afraid of anything. We can't let fear stop us. I'm not afraid of the darkness!" Riku shouted to the skies above before holding out a hand towards Sora.

Sora could easily see there was a fierce determination in Riku's eyes. One that he had never quite seen before. It made him feel a little uneasy again. "Riku…" Sora started to say, but darkness appeared on the ground beneath Riku's feet.

The darkness started to swirl around RIku and slowly wrap around his body. Sora could feel his heart pounding against his chest. "Riku!" He tried to run towards his friend, but found himself to be stuck in the darkness that was spreading.

"Just take hold of my hand Sora!" Riku shouted rather casually, still holding out his hand.

Sora continued to struggle as he tried to reach forward to grab hold of Riku. Sora started to breathe faster and faster as he continuously tried to move in the darkness. But it proved to be worthless. Sora closed his eyes as he felt the darkness completely surround him. He started to feel dizzy, but then a dazzling light surround him. Sora closed his eyes for a moment and when he opened them again, the darkness was gone. He looked around to see he was still on the smaller island, but Riku was no longer there. Not only that, but he was now holding something heavy in his left hand.

He stared down at the strange object before him. It was similar to that of a house key, but several times bigger. It did look like a key, but for some reason also reminded Sora of his sword. Sora held it up in front of his face as he examined it more.

' _ **A Keyblade**_ ' Both Ventus and Vanitas muttered at the same time, astonishment and surprise in their voices.

* * *

 **Ta-da! And that is of course where we decided to end it. Heh.**

 **Thank you all SO much for reading this story and everything! It means so much to us! See you next time!**


	18. Chapter 18

**Alright alright! We've got another chapter for you guys! Finally getting into the good KH1 stuff! Enjoy!**

* * *

' _ **A Keyblade**_ ' _Both Ventus and Vanitas muttered at the same time, astonishment and surprise in their voices._

Sora blinked a few times as he continued to stare at the object before him. "A keyblade? What's that?"

' _ **It's the object that you are holding of course!'**_ Vanitas snarked.

"I get that… but _what_ exactly is a… keyblade?" Sora then decided to ask.

' _It's a special weapon,'_ Ventus started to explain. ' _But… ah! I remembered something!"_

"What did you remember?" Sora asked, eager and curious what Ventus had remembered.

" _Vanitas and I… we both had keyblades,'_ Ventus replied simply

' _ **Of course my keyblade was better than his,'**_ Vanitas said smugly.

' _That's not relevant right now! What is though… how does Sora have a keyblade? Is it because of us?'_

Before Sora or Vanitas could say anything, Sora noticed that the Heartless creatures were closing in on him. Instinctively he swung at them, as if he were still holding his wooden sword. Much to his surprise the keyblade actually struck and knocked back the little shadows. Sora swung the keyblade a few more times at the Heartless until all of them around him were gone.

"Whoa…" Sora muttered as he examined the keyblade again.

' _Woo! You go Sora! Teach those Heatless a lesson!_ '

"So the keyblade can take those things out? But what were you saying? About me having a keyblade?"

' _We can discuss this later when we're not fighting._ '

"Oh yeah. Plus we gotta find Kairi!" Sora said as he turned around. He looked around where he thought she could be. A moment later his eyes fell upon the entrance to the secret hideout. He started to run over there, slicing through any Heartless that now came at him.

Once he made it there he ran inside all the way to the back area. There he saw Kairi standing in front of the blank door. With his heart pounding he called out to her. "Kairi! There you are!"

Slowly Kairi turned around to face him. Sora let out a gasp as he saw her face. She looked completely exhausted and her eyes looked almost empty. "Sora…" she muttered softly as she slowly staggered forward.

Before Sora could replied, the door behind her burst open and a powerful wind knocked into her. She was sent flying right towards Sora. Sora opened his arms though, ready to catch her. But just as it seemed he was going to hold on to her… she vanished into thin air. Sora let out a gasp as the wind became too much for him to stand again.

Sora let out a yell as he was sent backwards through the cave. He landed on the ground a second later. But what he now saw around him made his jaw drop. The island was no longer an island. The sky was dark with streaks of purple and red, with the large org still high above. Looking below the area of sand he landed on, he saw that there was nothing below him. There was no water or anything, just a dark void. Pieces of the island floated all around though as debris floated up to the orb.

"Wh-What's happening!?" Sora shouted as his eyes grew wide with fear. Never before had he ever seen something quite like this.

' _ **Darkness… this world is being consumed.'**_ Vanitas answered.

Sora gasped. "Being consumed?!"

' _ **Yes.'**_

"But how?" Sora asked as he looked at what was left of the island.

When he fully looked around though, he saw a large creature standing behind him. It must have been at least several stories tall. It looked sort of similar to the Heartless he had seen before, but this was towered over him. But it still had those eerie glowing yellow eyes.

"Is that another Heartless?" Sora said as he stood up and slowly took a few steps back.

' _Yeah_.'

"What sh-should I do?" Sora questioned as he felt his hands trembling. Taking out the small and little Heartless seemed simple enough, but this was something else entirely.

' _ **Lay the smackdown on it obviously.'**_

' _We have to defeat it.'_

"B-But… I've never fought anything like that before! I don't know if I can do it!"

' _ **You have to fight it. If you don't fight against it than it will steal your heart.'**_

' _You can do it Sora! We believe in you!'_

Sora felt a warmth in his heart. He placed his hand over his chest and smiled. "Thanks." Without even thinking the keyblade appeared in his hand again and he charged right at the giant Heartless.

Sora hit the keyblade as hard as he could against the large darkness hand went i reached down to the ground. When he felt the chance was right he hopped up onto the arm and ran towards the Heartless's face. The more he fought against it, the more he felt like he was getting into a rhythm.

He had only fought with a wooden sword before and only against other people. He had never actually fought a monster before, but somehow he was doing fairly well. Maybe it was because of Ventus and Vanitas. They gave him the courage to fight this thing and not be afraid. His brothers made him feel strong.

The wind started to pick up more and soon more and more debris was pulled into the orb. Sora dropped back to the ground after another attack, and when he looked back the Heartless was being pulled up into the air, and into the orb. The wind whipped at Sora's face as he struggled to stay on the ground. As he felt himself being pulled by the wind, he tried to grab onto a piece of wood that was stuck into the ground that remained.

Slowly though he was losing his grip. He would eventually let go whether he wanted to or not. "I.. I don't think I can hold on much longer!" Sora shouted as loud as he could over the wind, even though he knew he could have just thought his words to Ventus and Vanitas.

' _!'_ Ventus yelped in surprise as Sora's grip slipped.

Sora winced as his fingers began to feel sore from holding on for so long. One by one his fingers could no longer hold on and within seconds he let go. Sora let out a yell as he was pulled up into the sky and into the darkness of the orb. Everything blacked out for him after that.

* * *

' _I wonder how Sora got a keyblade?_ ' Ventus asked for the fifth time.

Vanitas sighed, the other boy wasn't going to shut up until he responded, was he? ' _ **Repeating the question over and over again isn't going to help you find the answer.'**_

' _Well do you have any answers then?'_ Ventus questioned.

' _ **Nope. I am as clueless as you are… unfourntanly.**_ '

Ventus let out a long sigh. ' _Well… what about Destiny Islands falling to darkness? How could that have happened… You… You wouldn't have had anything to do with that would you?'_

Vanitas would have gaped at Ventus's question if he had the face to do so, ' _ **You idiot! I'm as much stuck in Sora's body as you are! How could I have done something like that?! Why would I do something like that!'**_

Ventus faltered a little. ' _Ah… Sorry… It was just the first thing I thought of I guess. I didn't really think.'_

' _ **Of course you didn't think, you never do!'**_ Vanitas snapped back, pissed that Ventus could think that after all these years he would do something like that. In the beginning, maybe he would had done something like that if he had the means, but now he wouldn't think about hurting Sora, or his friends.

' _I just never expected something like that to happen. And we have no idea where we are now…'_

' _ **Obviously there has to be something else at work, such as that strange person we saw in the hideout.'**_ Vanitas pointed out with a huff.

' _I still can't figure it out though. There was… some familiarity from that person… but I can't figure out what…'_

Vanitas gave a small hum of agreement, there was a strange sense of familiarity, but… there was also a strange feeling of fear. As if he should avoid the person, to not make them angry.

' _I just hope Sora wakes up soon…I have no idea how long he had been out now…'_

Vanitas remained quiet at that.

Moments later they could sense Sora was walking up. They heard him groan as his eyes slowly began to open, giving Ventus and Vanitas a chance to finally see where they were. Sora blinked slowly though everything was still a slight bit out of focus. There was one thing though… a happy dog was sitting in front of Sora.

Sora groaned as his eyes slowly started to close again. "What a dream…"

' _Sora! Don't go falling asleep on us again!'_ Ven shouted, but Sora continued to drift off.

The dog though then decided to pounce on Sora, waking him up for sure. He grunted before his eyes shot wide open.

"Ah! T-This isn't a dream!"

' _ **Of course it isn't! Now we need to figure out where we are,'**_ Vanitas stated

"Yeah…" Sora muttered as he stood up. "But… just where is this place?" None of the building around Sora looked familiar at all. Sora hummed for a moment before looking at the dog.

"Hey, do you know where we are?"

The dog sat there for a moment before it turned and ran off to someplace here. Sora just stood there and watched before the dog was out of sight.

' _Perhaps we should follow it?_ '

" _I guess so,"_ Sora thought as he started to walk in the direction he had seen the dog good. When he rounded the corner, he exited out of the alleyway and his eyes widened at what he saw before him. He was now standing in what looked like to be a quiet, peaceful town. There was cobblestone ground and lamp posts spread throughout the area.

"Whoa…" Sora mumbled. "This is… this is another world. Right?"

' _ **Obviously.'**_

' _It doesn't look like Destiny Islands.'_

"But…" Sora started to say until he noticed that were where a few people around in the section down a fly of stairs. He changed his words into his thoughts to continue to conversation. " _But what world is it? Do you guys know?"_

' _ **No I do not recognize this place.'**_

' _Same, I don't remember this place.'_

" _Oh… Well I hope we can figure it out. We.. We also have to find out what happened to Riku and Kairi…"_ Sora thought to the other two before letting out a long sigh.

The two stayed silent, though Sora could feel their worry and mild concern. Sora took in a few deep breaths as he tried to relax himself. He knew he was now in a new world and was separated from Riku and Kairi. Since Ventus and Vanitas had told him that there were many worlds out there Sora had to figure that there was a change he was the only one from his islands here. He didn't want to give up hope though, he knew that Ventus and Vanitas wouldn't want him to do that. So he stood up straight and started to look around the area.

" _Where should we look first then?"_ Sora asked.

' _ **We should be discrete, we don't know if these people know about other worlds or not,'**_ Vanitas cautioned.

" _Oh yeah that's right. You guys told me that you aren't really suppose to tell others that right?"_ Sora said, trying to recall conversations from long ago.

' _Yeah, something about… protecting the world order?_ ' Ventus said a confused note in his voice, as if he had a faint memory, but couldn't quite recall it.

" _Ah okay. Well I'll at least try to look around,"_ Sora said as he noticed a building known as the Accessory Shop. " _Maybe we can at least ask someone if they have seen Riku or Kairi."_

' _Yeah, I'm worried… Riku was acting a bit strange…'_ Ventus said, and Sora could feel the frown on the older boy's face.

" _Y-Yeah…I really hope he is okay…"_ Sora said, a worried feeling stirring in his heart.

Sora walked up to the Accessory Shop and opened the door. Immediately the main at the counter turned around and began to speak. "Hey there, how can I…" he paused when he saw Sora. "Aw, it's only a kid."

Sora pouted slightly. "I'm not a kid! And the name's Sora!"

' _ **But you are a kid. Your only fourteen years old. That is the age of a kid,'**_ Vanitas pointed out.

" _So? It has word teen it is. That means I'm not a kid,"_ Sora replied back as he stepped into the shop.

"Oka, okay," the man said. "Simmer down there. So why the long, face Sora? You lost or something?"

Sora shifted slightly. "No… I mean… I don't know…"

"What do you mean you don't know?" the man asked as he crossed his arms.

"Uhh…" Sora started off, hoping that Ventus or Vanitas could give him some advice about how to go about this.

' _Just say you were with your friends and got separated,_ ' Ventus suggested

"I got seperated from my friends… and I got a bit lost. You wouldn't have happened to see them would you? Their names are Riku and Kairi."

The man shook his head. "Nope sorry. Haven't heard anybody with those names come through here. But if you say you are lost. I take it you are from another word."

Sora gasped. He opened his mouth to try and say something, but nothing came out.

"Relax kid. Everyone who shows up here is from another world. That's just how this place works," the man replied.

"But then where is here?"

"This is Traverse Town. By the way, name's Cid."

"Oh I see. Thank you Cid," Sora said, trying to process all of the information he had just heard. "So maybe Riku and Kairi are here after all…I guess I better start looking then."

"Well, good luck with that. Hope you can find your friends. If you need any help though, I'll be here if you need me."

"Thank you," Sora said quietly. He didn't expect the first person he would met in another world to be so nice right off the bat. With that though he exited the building and stared up at the star filled sky

* * *

 **And now we finally got Sora off on his adventure. Thank you everyone for sticking with us for so long! See you next time!**.


	19. Chapter 19

**Oh wow it's chapter 19! Thank you everyone who has read this story that TheDeadChiRisen and I are writing! We are so happy that you guys are all liking our story.**

* * *

 **Ch.19**

Sora started to walk around the Traverse Town for a bit. Seeing was there was to see and everything else. Soon enough he learned that there was other districts that he could explore. He wandered around until he found the door that would lead into the Second District. He pushed open the large doors and peered around the next area.

"This place is far bigger than I thought…" Sora muttered aloud as there was no one else around to hear him.

He only walked a few inches further when small pools of darkness appeared in front of him. Suddenly several little shadowy Heartless appeared. They stood there for a moment before they slowly started to crawl towards Sora. With a gasp, he stumbled back a bit, eyes locked on the creatures.

"Heartless! They're here too!" Sora said as he summoned his keyblade. With a deep breath he charged at the Heartless and swung the keyblade at them, just as he had done back on Destiny Islands.

Soon enough he defeated they and they were gone. Sora breathed a sigh of relief before walking a bit further into the Second District. He kept a close eye out as he had a feeling more Heartless may appear. " _Why do you guys think the Heartless are also over in this world?"_

' _I don't know._ '

Sora hummed thoughtfully as he continued his way through the district, soon heading down a set of stairs, leading him to the main floor of the area. More Heartless appeared out of nowhere, but Sora was starting to get use to it at least. He cleared out the Heartless as he searched around the entire Second Distract, but there didn't seem to be many other people around.

Eventually he found his way to a Third Distract, and just like the last there was Heartless roaming around. Sora didn't complain though as he was slowly picking up how to use the keyblade. Once he had made his way around the Third Distract he let out a long sigh and leaned against one of the walls.

" _Neither Riku or Kairi are anywhere around here…"_ Sora thought his words to Vanitas and Ventus. Though he didn't see anyone else in the area, he figured it would be best to just play it safe and keep talking to them just with his thoughts.

' _Maybe they arrived someplace else?'_ Ventus suggested.

" _You mean like another world? Is that possible though?"_

' _ **Anything could happen. It's hard to really say though with what happened to Destiny Islands. Don't give up hope yet though, I'm sure we'll manage to find those friends of yours.'**_ Vanitas replied.

' _Yeah! We can't give up yet, we have hardly even started to look for them. I know they are out there for sure.'_ Ventus added on with a cheerful tone.

Sora smiled. " _Thanks guys. I guess maybe now though I should backtrack? Maybe I'll check back with Cid."_

' _That sounds like a good plan then. Just be careful of the Heartless they are bound to pop up again.'_

' _ **The Heartless won't show you any mercy, so don't show them any.'**_

Sora nodded in response and started making his way back. He still kept an eye out for anyone else in the area, mostly looking for Riku or Kairi. But it was just the same as he headed all the way back to the First District. There were still Heartless that kept showing up everywhere, but they were still small and easy to manage.

Once he got back to the First District he went straight to the Accessory Shop. Inside Cid was still there of course and Sora walked up to him to explain what he had been doing. Once he told Cid everything, the man spoke up.

"Well keep your chin up. They still might be around there. Maybe take another look around town."

"Okay, I will," Sora said with a cheerful grin, though it was a bit more forced. He was worried about his friends, especially Riku as he had been acting strange

Sora then turned around and headed back outside of the shop. Once he was outside he looked around the area and took in a deep breath. He wasn't ready to give up, not at all. He summoned the keyblade to take a look at it again. He didn't quite know why he thought to look at it, but he just ended up doing so for a few seconds. Though just as he was ready to go and search again he heard footsteps followed by a voice.

"They'll come at you out of nowhere."

Sora quickly pointed towards the sound of the voice. A tall man with long brown hair and blue was staring at him. He wore a mostly black outfit with many belts around his waist. He also had a long dialogue scar going across his nose.

"Wh-Who are you?" Sora asked, surprised to see another person just start talking to him.

The man did not seem to care to answer Sora's question though as he went on to say other things. "And they'll keep on coming at you, as long as you continue to wield the Keyblade."

" _He's… He's talking about the Heartless right?"_ Sora asked to Ventus and Vanitas.

' _ **Yeah, and we already know that,'**_ Vanitas answered with a scoff. Then a second later Vanitas added one other thing. ' _ **He looks like a punk.'**_

' _He doesn't look like a bad person though.'_

While Vanitas and Ventus made their comments about the man, Sora thought to try and ask him something again. But he didn't get a chance to try to reply as the man once again just continued to talk.

"But why?" the man questions aloud as he shook his head. "Why would it choose a kid like you?"

' _Hey! Sora is a great kid!_ '

' _ **You know he can't hear you,'**_ Vanitas replied with a sigh.

' _Yeah, but he shouldn't go around saying things like that. He doesn't even know Sora! I could practically hear his thoughts… thinking that our Sora was a wimp or something. He should get to know Sora before making assumptions!'_ Ventus answered with a small huff. He was really starting to dislike people who made assumptions about other people before truly getting to know them.

Sora did continue to listen to the two talk, but it seemed that the man was giving him a chance to speak as he was now just looking at him with a curious or perhaps concerned glance.

"What do you even mean by that? What does it choosing me have to do with anything?"

The man shook his head again. "Never mind that. Now, let me see the keyblade." He started to walk forward as he reached his hand out.

Sora stepped back a few inches as he kept his eyes locked on the approaching man.

' _ **Don't let him touch your keyblade.'**_ Vanitas warned.

' _Never let anyone take your keyblade from you.'_ Ventus added in agreement.

" _What should I do then?"_ Sora asked as he backed up a bit more.

' _It looks like you might have to fight him. It doesn't look like this guy is going to leave us alone,'_ Ventus warned.

" _But I've never-"_

' _ **We know there is a lot you haven't done yet, but now is not the time to be worrying about this. You have a keyblade and that means something important. You can't let this punk take it away from you.'**_

" _Right!"_ Sora thought before he stopped backing away and stood in a defensive position.

"I am not going to let you take the keyblade from me!" he shouted with as much seriousness as he could muster.

The man exhaled heavily. "All right, then have it your way."

He then summoned a large weapon to his hands. It looked like a metal sword, but the base of it resembled a gun. He held it tightly in his hands as he pointed the end of it towards Sora. Just as Sora started to move out of the way he saw that a bit of fire was forming at the tip of the blade and then a ball of fire came flying right at him.

Sora gasped as he jumped down the stairs to the lower section of the First District. " _Did he just… What was that?"_

' _Magic… I remember! We can cast spells, when were not in battle I can teach you some basic spells.'_

' _ **I will teach you a few basic dark spells.'**_ Vanitas added.

' _Vanitas…_ ' Ventus said warningly.

' _ **Just because you are biased against the dark, doesn't mean Sora should be. He should use both light and dark. Of course Sora gets the final say. But I think it would be beneficial to know both.'**_

" _Ah…"_ Sora tried to say as he tumbled out of the way of the large sword that was being swung at him. As he tried to get back up though he was struck with the side of the blade. He groaned as he crumpled to the ground.

' _We can discuss this later, focus on the fight Sora.'_

" _Right!"_ Sora thought as he stood back up. His grip tightened and he held the keyblade in front of him defensively.

Eyeing the man he ran forward and swung at the man, getting in a few hits and using his smaller body to his advantage to dodge out of the way of the stikes. Unfortunately he wasn't quick enough to dodge all of them and so he took a hard strike from the large sword. He coughed as he had the wind knocked out of him. Using the backward momentum he went further back trying to get some distance.

The man shot another fire spell at him but Sora managed to block it with the keyblade and with a small push, the firespell is sent back at the man. Sora took in a deep breath, and kept his eye on the man who seemed stunned.

' _Be careful._ ' Ventus warned as Sora took a few steps closer.

Sora was ready to strike again when the man seemed to recover fairly quickly. He swung his sword once more and Sora was knocked back to the ground. Sora grunted as he tried to get up again, but his legs felt shaky and unsteady. Sora took in a deep breath as he pushed himself up into standing position. The world around him started to spin as he felt dizzy. He staggered forward slightly, before staggering back. His vision blurred before he closed his eyes and fell back to the ground. Though just before he lost consciousness he remembered what Ventus and Vanitas said about not letting the man take his keyblade. With the last of his energy he managed to unsummon the keyblade before he passed out.

* * *

They had been in the darkness for awhile as Sora was once again unconscious. They waited there quietly and if Ventus had a face he would be frowning. ' _You know… something's been bothering me.'_

' _ **Oh? And what could possibly be bothering you?'**_ Vanitas asked with a slightly bored tone. Whenever Sora was unconscious there wasn't much for them to do.

' _Well… doesn't it seem that its… kinda.. I don't know... crowded?'_

Vanitas scoffed, about to just dismiss the matter entirely, but he paused and now that Ventus had brought it up, it did feel more full yet also strangely light, as if someone else was in the heart with them. ' _ **You're right. I think… I think that someone else is in the heart with us. Sora's heart feels full, but there is a strange lightness to it, much like the little princess's light.'**_

' _Do you think that Kairi's heart joined Sora's and ours then? Maybe when Sora tried to catch her?'_

' _ **It is possible.'**_ Vanitas allowed with a small hum as he gave some more thought to the matter

' _Why hasn't she said anything then?_ ' Ventus questioned.

' _ **It took us time to wake up, obviously it would take time for her to wake up as well.'**_ Vanitas answered rolling his non existent eyes.

' _Should we let Sora know though?'_ Ventus asked, as he continued to think about the situation.

' _ **We should tell him… we may not know for sure, but we do know something else is in his heart, and really it's only reasonable that it's the little princess. Sora can then focus on finding the brat, since the girl is safe.**_ '

' _Yeah I guess that sounds like a good idea. I still wonder about Riku though… I hope he is all right.'_

* * *

 **A lot of people were asking about if Vanitas and Ventus would know about Kairi. So here we go, there the answer for you guys!**

 **BIG BIG thanks to all of you again! We never expected to get this far with this story, but it is all thanks to you readers!**


	20. Chapter 20

**Oh wow chapter 20! I never expected to get a fanfic up to that many chapters. But of course I have to give thanks to my co author TheDeadGirlRisen for all the help! And of course all of you guys for reading!**

* * *

 **Ch.20**

Sora groaned as his thoughts started to come back to him. He slowly opened his eyes to bright lights. Everything felt disappointed and his head still ached slightly. Sora rubbed his head as he tried to remember what had happened.

" _Guys?..."_ Sora muttered in his thoughts.

' _We're here, we need to talk to you about something.'_

" _What is it?"_ Sora questioned.

"You okay?" A voice asked causing him to look and see someone standing nearby.

Sora blinked a few times as he looked at the person. He tried to focus his eyes, but he still felt rather out of it.

' _ **Be wary, we don't know who this person is or what they want with us.'**_ Vanitas cautioned.

Sora slowly sat up as he rubbed his eyes. He realized at least that he had been laying on a bed. He tried to look at the persona again as his eyes slowly came into focus. He could tell the person had short hair at least, but the lighting in the room still made him feel a bit disoriented. His body as well felt a bit sore upon waking up.

"I think so…" Sora finally replied.

"Those creatures that attacked you are after the Keyblade. But it's your heart they really want, because you wield the Keyblade," the person said again, Sora course at least tell now it was a female voice.

He blinked a few more times until his eyes finally focused on who was in front of him. For the briefest moment he thought it was Kairi. Though he wanted to be sure as he shook his head and rubbed his eyes once more. Before him stood a young girl with short black hair, and she was dressed a tanktop and rather short shorts.

"Who are you?" Sora asked.

"Me? I'm the great ninja Yuffie," the girl boasted with confidence.

Sora was about to respond when a sharp pain ran through his head. His body still felt a bit sore and Sora figured it was probably because of all the dodging and fighting he had done before.

Yuffie looked right at Sora before turning around. "I think you might've overdone it, Squall."

A man stepped through the door and it was none other than the man from before. He sighed as he crossed his arms. "That's Leon."

' _ **Keep an eye on him. We don't know what he is up to.'**_

' _But.. it seems like he brought us here and they are helping to heal Sora.'_

' _ **He may be wanting Sora as a prisoner, we have to be cautious of strangers.'**_

Ventus didn't say anything in response.

Sora looked at the two in the room with him, but didn't say anything to them. He just kept quiet as he tried to think of what he could do. A second later Yuffie took a small blue bottle out from a chest that was on the table. She handed it towards Sora. "Here, drink this. It's a potion. It should help with any pain you still have."

Sora stared hesitantly at the potion. " _Do you guys think I should?"_

' _I recognize it, the potion is a health potion. It doesn't look like it's been tampered with.'_

' _ **Only take a sip of it at first. Wait a moment and if the pain starts going away then drink the rest of it.'**_

Sora reached out and took the potion. He didn't say a word though as he did. He looked down at the small potion before he slowly took a sip from it. Much to his surprise it had a rather sweet taste. Right after one sip the aches and pains from his body started to fade away. Though he then puckered his lips as it left a more bitter aftertaste.

As he slowly drank from the potion he finally thought he might as well ask the question that was on his mind. "What… What do you guys want?"

"Well we were hoping to get you to a place to talk to you safely. We wanted to do that as well as just get the keyblade away from you for a short bit to keep the creatures away from you. But," Yuffie rolled her eyes as she glance at Leon. "Leon here didn't wanna play nicely and made things a bit more difficult."

"What do you mean?" Sora asked with narrowed eyes.

"We wanted to get the keyblade from you because the Heartless are basically tracking it, which means they are tracking you."

"Hopefully though they can stay away for now even though you are holding on to the keyblade still," Leon said as he stepped forward. "Still hard to believe that you of all people are the chosen one." He paused for a moment as he stared at Sora. "Hmpf, I suppose beggars can't be choosers."

Ventus hissed inside his mind, and Vanitas seemed surprised by how Ventus was acting, ' _ **Jeez, what is up with you?'**_

' _He keeps insinuating that Sora is not strong enough! Our Sora is strong! He'll be able handle the Heartless with ease!'_

' _ **Sora will just have to prove him wrong then.'**_

' _Yeah!_ '

"I… I don't understand though. What are you guys even talking about?" Sora asked, looking at Leon and then Yuffie. He did feel a bit hurt by Leon's words, but he knew he had Ventus and Vanitas to give him confidence. But he still felt a bit uneasy about it all. "I don't get any of this…"

Leon gave a sigh and muttered sarcastically, "Great… we got a smart one here."

"Be quiet Leon, you're not helping," Yuffie said as she glared at him and he just shrugged without a word.

Yuffie then took a seat next to Sora on the bed. He scooted away from her, and made sure to keep an eye on everyone in the room. Yuffie gave him a quick confused look, but then continued on with what she was going to say. "So to start, you may have figured out by now but there are other worlds beside your own."

"Obviously," Sora said raising an eyebrow. He and his friends had been trying to get to other worlds after all.

"Generally, people aren't really suppose to know about that kind of stuff. Because the worlds are not connected and stuff."

"That is until more recent times," Leon added in looking down at Sora. "Once the Heartless started to show up, everything changed."

"The Heartless. The shadowy creatures, right?" Sora asked, thankful he already had a small bit of knowledge about them from Ventus and Vanitas.

"That's right. The Heartless… Those without hearts," Leon replied.

' _ **Yes thank you for the summary genius, we had no clue what Heatless could have possibly meant.'**_ Vanitas commented with a scoff.

"Yes, Heartless… it's kinda in the name what they are." Sora said dryly agreeing with what Vanitas had said.

Yuffie gave a small cough as she spoke to move on from Sora's comment. "It's the darkness in people's hearts, that's what attracts them, the Heartless."

"And there is darkness within every heart," Leon added again, while he closed his eyes for the moment.

Ventus chuckled as he said teasingly, ' _Well obviously Vani is the darkness in your heart.'_

' _ **Oh what are you then? His light?'**_

' _Hmm… Yep!'_ Ventus agreed with a nonexistent grin.

Vanitas just scoffed, ' _ **Idiot.'**_

Sora wanted to chuckle, but he knew he was in the presence of other people. People who had no idea about him or anything. He had to remind himself to not look weird or strange in front of others. So instead he took in a deep breath as he waited for Leon or Yuffie to speak up again.

"Hey, so… have you heard of someone named Ansem?" Yuffie asked him as she glanced over at him.

" _Guys?"_ Sora asked Ventus and Vanitas as the name wasn't familiar to him.

' _Hmm, doesn't sound familiar.'_

' _ **I got nothing either.'**_

With neither Vanitas or Ventus knowing Sora shook his head. "No I haven't."

"He was someone who studied the Heartless," Leon started off. "He had recorded his findings in a detailed report. But…" he trailed off.

"The report got lost. Scattered over different worlds somehow," Yuffie said, filling in the rest.

"So I guess I should keep an eye open for those pages." Sora muttered not looking forward to the idea of a scavenger hunt.

Leon snorted. "The weapon you were holding earlier is a keyblade."

"I know that." Sora responded narrowing his eyes at the man.

"Oh, go on then tell me what you know about it." Leon taunted.

Sora tensed slightly before frowning as he thought about it. "I know that it's a special weapon, with the power to open locks." Sora answered after a moment of thinking about the name, if Heartless was that obvious than hopefully the keyblade was that obvious as well.

"Hmph. Lucky guess," Leon muttered as he crossed his arms.

Sora was about to retort when Yuffie spoke up, "Just ignore Leon. He's just being grumpy. But can you show us the keyblade at least?"

' _ **Ask them why they want to see your keyblade.'**_ Vanitas told him.

Listening to Vanitas, Sora repeated the question out loud. "Why do you want to see my keyblade?"

"The keyblade, it's something that is really important. It's pretty much… well the key to everything," Yuffie replied.

Sora could feel the unimpressed looks that both Vanitas and Ventus must have had. "Un-huh, you know I have one, yet so far you haven't given me a good reason to show you," Sora told them, deciding that if Ventus isn't trying to curb Vanitas being suspicious, than he had best be cautious, besides these people were complete strangers. Only an idiot would trust them right away.

"Just thought it would be easier with explaining things" Yuffie said with a shrug. "It's okay if you don't. Just know that it is the key."

"The Heartless though, they have a great fear of the keyblade," Leon said as he walked closer to the door of the room. "That's why they'll keep coming after you no matter what."

' _ **As if some Heartless can stop you.'**_

' _Vani and I will help you, the Heartless won't stand a chance!'_ Ventus cheerfully encouraged.

"Let them come then. I have to find my friends, and I won't let the Heartless stop me," Sora said in a determined voice. Then thinking of his friends again… a feeling of worry washed over him. " _But wait… I still don't know where they are or what happened to them…Riku… Kairi…_ "

' _We have an idea about Kairi, we'll tell you when you aren't in the middle of a conversation.'_

" _Alright that's great!"_ Sora thought enthusiastically.

"That's great you are determined," Yuffie said with a smile.

"More like arrogant," Leon muttered.

"Hey, sounds like you sometimes Leon," Yuffie replied with a bit of a smug grin.

Leon crossed his arms and harrumphed, not wanting to say anything else.

"Well anyways," Yuffie said, moving on to the next point. "It's good that you at least know some stuff about the keyblade. With the locks and stuff."

"Sooner or later, the Heartless will find you again. You'd best prepare yourself," Leon spoke ominously, actually sounding a little more invested in the conversation.

"Prepare myself? For what?" Sora asked cautiously.

"To fight for your life. This isn't going to be something that is easy. Are you ready?" Leon asked.

' _Why would he want us to fight for our lives?'_

Thinking that was a good question, he looked at Leon and questioned, "Why do you want me to fight for my life? You've been nothing but rude, and you attacked me."

"Because… the Heartless won't stop. As I said before, they are going to keep coming," Leon replied.

"And I'll fight them if they get in the way of me finding my friends," Sora responded. "I don't see what that has to do with me being ready though. In fact I should be leaving to find my friends now."

"You can't leave yet, we've been waiting and looking for the one who has the keyblade," Yuffie insisted.

"So you're keeping me here?" Sora asked narrowing his eyes.

Yuffie shook her head. "No of course not. We have others though who need your help, and we were going to go meet them after we talked with you."

Sora paused in thought before shaking his head, he didn't want to go with these people especially since that Leon guy had attacked him, "I have to find my friends, after I find them then maybe I'll help."

' _Sora… we don't know how long it will take to find Riku, we also don't know where to start to look. We can help them and look for Riku at the same time.'_

" _But… they attacked us, they're practically trying to force us to help them,"_ Sora protested.

' _ **Much as I dislike them, it would be beneficial to work with them as they may be useful in the future,'**_ Vanitas said.

" _Fine."_

Sora huffed. "All right I'll help you guys out."

Leon nodded. "Let's go meet up with Aerith. She should be in the connected room with the other visitors by now."

Just as Leon was about to open the door, Yuffie jumped up from the bed and pointed to the corner of the room. "Leon!"

There in the corner was a ball of darkness forming, and from it a Heartless popped out. A bit different looking than the small shadowy ones Sora had seen before. This one stood up on its legs and had bits of armor on it. Leon ran forward and stood in front of Yuffie.

"Yuffie, go!"

Yuffie nodded before running through the door connecting to the next room over. Leon then summoned his gunblade and held it out in front of him. "Sora, let's go!"

Without another word Leon slammed his blade into the Heartless, shoving it back through the window. He then ran out the window and jumped down carefully to the alleyway below, before striking down on the Heartless.

Sora stared at what he had just witnessed. Despite getting off on the wrong foot with Leon, Sora was at least a little impress with what the man could do. But he didn't think or say anything on it, he just kept it to himself.

" _So we should follow him then?"_ Sora asked as he approached the window.

' _Yeah, we probably should…'_ Ventus replied after a pause.

Sora took in a deep breath before he jumped down into the alleyway. Now that Heartless were starting to show up all over, Sora finally decided to summon his keyblade. Leon gave him a nod. "You don't need to bother with all the small fry. Find the leader. Now let's go! I'll go back and check on the First District!"

Sora started fighting the nearby Heartless, as he made his way over to the Third District, he runs down the stairs to the main level where he sees another group of Heartless. Sora hears a loud crash and a scream and he quickly rolled to the side on instinct and as he leapt back up to his feat he saw two strange… animals… people? They laid on the ground partly dazed.

He hesitated and then asked them. "Are you okay?"

The two of them looked up an blinked a bit before both of them shouted, "The Key!"

* * *

 **Plot is moving along. Sora is of course a bit more hesitant towards others still. So how will things go later on? Let's find out!**

 **Thank you all so much for reading!**


	21. Chapter 21

**We are back now with the next chapter! Back right to where we left off! (I have no idea what to say anymore in authors notes lol)**

* * *

 **Ch.21**

The two strangers stared up at Sora, looking right at the keyblade he held in his hands. "The key!" both of them shouted in union.

Sora stared back at them with wide eyes. He took a step back as he tried to processed what had just happen. " _Is everyone just looking for the keyblade or something?"_

' _Perhaps… these two seem kinda familiar though.'_

" _Huh? What do you mean?"_

' _I'm not sure… they just seem familiar.'_

Before Sora could ask another question, the ground shook beneath him. The other two stood up and they started to look around the area. Small Heartless popped up all around them. Most of them the newer type with the armor, but there was still a few shadowy ones. Sora focused his attention to the Heartless and began to take them out. As he did he noticed that the other two were also fighting the Heartless, though the taller one fought with a shield and the other had a wand.

The small horde of Heartless was soon defeated now that there was two others to help Sora. But just as Sora thought it was over the ground shook again. He looked up to see a large piece of metal armor emerge from the darkness. Several more pieces followed and it formed into a large armored creature that had a heart shaped symbol on it.

" _That's another Heartless?!"_ Sora asked as he looked up at the thing. " _It looks just as huge as that one that was on the island."_

' _ **This one is stronger, be careful.'**_

Sora hummed thoughtfully as he started by jumping out of the way of the metal first that came down near him. Seeing the arm he charged at it hitting it with the Keyblade, the Heartless though didn't seem to take much damage. Sora eyed the Heartless, looking for any point of weakness and he saw that the two strange people attacking the Heartless as well. Though it seemed that nothing they did really seemed to affect it.

The Heartless began spinning its arms around its body wildly and one of the strange people, the duck looking one, became caught in the twister and was flung into a wall. The duck slid down and sat on the ground as he swayed side to side.

An arm came into range again and Sora started to strike at it again. This time the Heartless seemed to notice as it started stomping the ground, like a child throwing a tantrum. The Heartless then jumped into the air for the moment, while the strange dog person went over to the duck person and healed the duck.

Sora continued to attack the Heartless's arm while the now awake duck and the dog went and tag teamed the Heartless's legs.

After a few minutes the appendages are destroyed and the torso fell to the ground seemingly defenseless. The three approach warily, and just as they were starting to get close it starts to spin rapidly, knocking the three of them back.

Sora managed to flip himself in the air and land correctly back on the ground. He then charged at the armour and with a hard swing of the keyblade the Heartless starts to explode from the inside, shaking the entire area. The Heartless's head began to wobble and it fell down to the ground causing a loud ringing sound.

He watched as a large glowing heart floated out of the torso and into the air. Seconds later the remaining bits of the body vanished. Silence filled the district as Sora looked around. There didn't seem to be any other Heartless left… it was only him and the two strangers.

Sora looked at them and narrowed his eyes a bit. He remembered what the two had said when they had first saw him. "So, you two were looking for me?"

"Yep!" The dog stranger answered.

Footsteps were then heard coming from behind. Sora turned around to see Leon and Yuffie walking their way. Leon was the one that spoke first. "They too have been seeking the wielder of the keyblade."

"They have?" Sora asked, feeling actually a small bit curious.

Yuffie nodded. "Yup."

"Hey, why don't you come with us? We can go to other worlds on our ship," the dog asked cheerfully.

' _ **We don't even know who these two strangers are.'**_

' _But they seem to be willing to take us to other worlds, which is useful. Plus… they still are familiar to me.'_

Sora listened to both Ventus and Vanitas, but it didn't help him feel any better on the situation. "I'm not sure…" Though as Sora thought about it, a new thought came to mind. "If I came along though… maybe I could find Riku or Kairi. Maybe they are really somewhere else."

"Of course," the duck answered.

Sora raised an eyebrow in surprise. He still was not too trusting of these two, so he thought it would best to ask Ventus and Vanitas. " _Should I really… go with them? Would I really be able to find Riku and Kairi?"_

' _We still have to tell you what we suspect happened to Kairi, but I think that going with these two would definitely improve our chances of finding Riku.'_

' _ **Just be cautious of these two, but right now they seem like our best bet.'**_

Sora was about to ask them what they had meant about Kairi, but before he could he heard Leon speak up from behind. He turned around to face the man as he spoke.

"Sora go with them," he said with a sincere tone. "Especially if you want to find your friends."

Sora looked back and forth between Leon and the two who had asked him to join them. He still didn't know what to do. He wanted to find his friends, but he still hadn't really made new friends in a long while. The last three were Tidus, Wakka, and Selphie and despite hanging around with them and play fighting, he still was not as close with them as he was with Riku and Kairi.

"I mean… I guess…" Sora said as he let out a small sigh.

"But you can't come along looking like that. Understand?" the duck asked. "No frowning. No sad face. Okay?"

The dog laughed. "Yeah, ya gotta look funny, like us!"

The duck pushed the dog out of the way. "This boat runs on happy faces."

' _ **They're kidding us right?'**_

' _Sounds like a bit of fun! C'mon Sora do a silly face!'_

Sora pursed his lips slightly, trying to contain the small snicker he had from hearing his brother's reactions. Though he regained himself in the next moment. He thought about trying to make a silly face, but he had never really done something like that. Not in front of a bunch of people he didn't know. But he figured that he had to at least try.

Sora closed his eyes before smiling as large as he could. He grinned and looked directly at the two in front of him. He stared right at them as they stared back. No one said anything for a few second until the two burst out laughing.

The dog pointed at Sora while still laughing. "That's one funny face!"

Sora scooted back slightly as he tensed up. "I… It's not that funny," he muttered quietly under his breath.

' _ **It was completely ridiculous.'**_

' _Vani! It was a perfect silly face Sora, you made the others laugh, that was the point of it.'_

' _ **Hmpf, it was still stupid.'**_

' _That helmet you wear is stupid.'_ Ventus retorted childishly.

' _ **Your hair is stupid.**_ '

The two continued to bicker, causing Sora to laugh a bit more. He started to feel a bit better about things because of them. Now that he was feeling a bit better he finally looked back at the two to give them a answer.

"All right. I'll go with you guys," he replied simply.

"Donald Duck," the duck said as he held out his hand.

"Name's Goofy," the other added as he too put his hand forward, over Donald's hand.

Sora stared cautiously eyed them as he thought about what he should do. He slowly reached his hand forward slightly, though he was still hesitant. He still wasn't to keen about Donald and Goofy, but they were his chance to look for Riku and Kairi. He knew Vanitas wasn't too happy about the situation, but Ventus trusted these two.

Sora placed his hand on top of Goofy's. "I'm Sora."

"All for one, one for all," Goofy chimed in happily.

' _ **More like everyone for themselves.'**_

' _Hush you.'_ Ven said scoldingly.

' _ **I'm just saying that if they find another keyblade wielder, what's to say they won't leave Sora for this other wielder, until we know them then we should be careful of them.'**_

' _But do we know if there are others out there? I feel… like there should be… but I can't quite remember off hand,'_ Ventus replied.

' _ **I have a feeling that there will be more. Which is why I don't trust these two.'**_

' _You never trust anyone.'_

' _ **I trust you and the mini-me don't I? And I suppose the princess and the brat are okay.'**_

That shut Ventus up, as he didn't expect a… sort of kind response from Vanitas. He knew by now that Vanitas would sometimes say something kind, but it still felt strange to hear it. Sora on the other hand laughed in his thoughts as he and everyone else started to walk back to the First District.

" _So guys, what was it you wanted to tell me about Kairi?"_ Sora decided to ask.

' _We should tell you when you are alone, it might take a bit to explain it.'_

" _Why's that?"_

' _Because of what we suspect has happened, and you might react outwardly…'_

Sora nearly stopped walking, only to end up stumbling forward slightly. " _Is it… is it something bad?"_

' _Not necessarily. If what we suspect is true than we know where Kairi is, it would just be getting her back that would be the tricky bit.'_ Ventus answered hesitantly. ' _Please, wait till we are alone to ask more._ '

" _Okay, if you say so,"_ Sora replied with a sigh. He knew that Ventus and Vanitas would tell him what they knew, so he knew he would have to wait. He just hoped it wouldn't be too long… whatever it was.

* * *

 **Another chapter done and done. Will Sora ever find out about Kairi? How will he react to going out to other worlds? So many questions, and eventually the answers will come. See you guys next time!**


	22. Chapter 22

**Hello everyone! And welcome back finally! So sorry for the delay here. Class and writers block and all that. But TheDeadGirlRisen and I finished this chapter up at least!**

 **Thank you all again for your support on this story! We are thankful you all are enjoying it!**

* * *

 **Ch.22**

Everyone was back in the First District. Donald and Goofy were off talking to themselves as Sora looked around. He still wasn't entire too sure about going on a journey with the two of them, but he had to keep reminding himself he was doing to find his friends. After a few minutes he walked over to Yuffie, Leon, and Aerith to hear what they had to say.

Leon crossed his arms as he spoke, "Make sure you're prepared for the journey. The Heartless will be after you because of the keyblade you wield."

"Right," Sora responded quietly.

"Don't forget to check out the shops around here. They got some neat and helpful stuff," Yuffie added in.

"Here, this is from all of us," Aerith said as she held out a small bag.

Sora took the bag and looked inside. His eyes widened slightly as he saw the amount of munny that was in the bag. " _That's more than I expected them to give me."_

' _At least it's a good amount to get us started.'_

"Spend it as you see fit," Aerith continued. "And this is from Leon."

Aerith held out a small bottle in front of Sora. It looked a bit different than the one he had drank from before to heal up his sore body. Sora carefully took it and looked it over. He then glanced over at Leon, who upon making eye contact looked away, as if he was embarrassed.

' _ **What is that?'**_ Vanitas questioned distrustingly.

"What is it?" Sora asked. He had a feeling of uneasiness inside of him as he didn't know what the item was.

"It's an elixir, it's like a potion, but used for more than just wounds and stuff," Yuffie answered.

' _Sounds about right. I do remember the name at least,'_ Ventus added, hoping to bring some more reassurance to Sora.

"Ah I see. Thank you," Sora replied.

"Well good luck," Yuffie said with a cheerful smile.

"I hope you can find your friends," Aerith added.

Leon finally looked back at Sora and uncrossed his arms. "Look out for each other. Keep your spirits up."

Sora thanked them all again before awaking away, just to have a little time to himself, and to talk with his brothers.

' _ **Tch, as if we need his advice.'**_

' _He is just trying to be nice,'_ Ventus commented.

' _ **Hmph. I don't trust him.'**_

" _I think I agree with Vani… I just don't know about him."_

' _Well maybe once you get to know him things may be better,'_ Ventus offered, trying to sound positive about it.

' _ **It's best to be careful though, people are always willing to turn on others,'**_ Vanitas spoke bitterly

' _Some people perhaps, but not everyone.'_

" _I guess… we will see what happens later on,"_ Sora finally said. " _I'm still not really sure about everyone here… but I guess they can't all be that bad."_

' _ **Some of them are probably good, I just don't think we should trust everyone we meet with only a few lines of conversation, like I know**_ **someone** _**likes to do.'**_ Vanitas spoke directing his ' _someone'_ at Ventus.

Ventus thought to say something else, but nothing came to him when he tried to speak. He ended up staying quiet as Sora made his way over to Donald and Goofy.

"The gummi ship is outside that gate," Donald said as he pointed to the large door behind him.

Sora blinked in confusion. "The what?"

"That's our ship," Donald answered simply.

' _ **Gummi that sounds like a type of food item,'**_ Vanitas spoke derisively.

"Wait 'till you see it!" Goofy added in.

"It's called the gummi, why?" Sora questioned, wondering why it had such a strange name. He also was thinking mostly about the comment Vanitas had made, which made him all the more curious.

"It's the type of material that the ship is made out of. You'll see it when we go out there," Donald answered.

' _ **...so it's made of a food item?'**_

Sora tried to ask more about the gummi ship, but it seemed that Donald had another subject to talk about. "One other thing. Since there may be Heartless out there, you'll need to learn some magic."

"Magic? You mean you'll teach me how to use it? Can I really use magic" Sora asked as many questions suddenly came to his mind.

Donald nodded and then held out a paper scroll. "We will start we the basic fire spell. It's easy to learn. Just read over this scroll, you can practice more when we are on the gummi ship.

Sora took the scroll and held it in his hands. "Is that it then? Are we going to leave soon?"

"Not yet. Not till we are all ready," Donald answered.

"We'll let ya know when we are all set to go," Goofy said. "Just wait until then."

Sora nodded and walked off to a corner area of the district. He looked down at the scroll before he opened it and started to read it over. Inside he was started to feel more excited than before. " _I'm going to get to learn magic guys!"_

' _ **Of course, my brother and I already said we were going to teach you.'**_

" _Yeah, but it's still exciting! It's going to be so cool!"_

' _Magic is cool to use, but you have to be careful with it. Don't want to go accidently setting anything or anyone on fire.'_

' _ **Although purposely setting Rin on fire is okay.'**_

" _Hmm…"_

' _Setting anyone on fire is not okay! Not even if it is Rin!'_

' _ **But after all that psychopath has done he serves to be burned,'**_ Vanitas muttered petulantly. He really wanted to see that bully as nothing more than a smoldering corpse.

" _I agree with Ven… I wouldn't want to do that to someone. That… it sounds so cruel."_

' _ **Fine, but we can roast all the Heartless we want.'**_

' _Heartless are okay to burn._ '

" _Okay, that's better at least,"_ Sora replied with a sigh of relief.

After he glanced around at what the shops had to offer, Sora noticed that Leon, Yuffie, and Aerith were sitting at the small cafe in the First District. He wondered a bit closer to them out of curiosity, and then Leon spoke up.

"There are dalmatians named Pongo and Perdita living in the Second District…" he said softly before trailing off.

"What? All by themselves?" Sora asked, a bit confused by Leon's statement.

"They're quite upset, these dalmatians. They've lost their puppies," Leon replied.

"And Squall can't stop worrying about them," Yuffie added on.

Leon rolled his eyes as he let out a sigh. "I've told you a hundred times before to call me Leon."

' _Oh puppies! We should definitely help!'_ Ventus said excitedly.

' _ **Are you sure you don't just want an excuse to play with a mutt?'**_

Ventus was suspiciously quiet to that.

Sora thought it over for a moment. He wasn't really sure about doing more than he had thought to when going on his journey. But he didn't like the thought of little puppies all alone and lost. He started to think if he really would help them out. It didn't sound like too big of a task at least. Besides, he agreed with Ven, playing with puppies would be fun.

"Sora, do you think you could help look for the puppies?" Aerith asked him.

"Help them out," Leon added quietly.

Aerith glanced over at Leon before looking back at Sora. She gave a small smile and leaned closer. "Please, find the puppies for him. I know it would help cheer him up."

Leon huffed, but did not reply back. He only closed his eyes and looked away. Sora was about to leave when Yuffie walked over to him and snickered. She leaned a bit closer and whispered, "Squa-... I mean Leon, is really cute sometimes."

' _ **Does that mean she has a crush on him?'**_

Sora let out a small huff of air, brushing off Vanitas's comment. He still did not really like Leon so much, the others seemed nice, but Leon still bothered him a little. "Oh really?" he muttered quietly before trying to walk away.

"Don't let Leon's attitude bother you too much," Yuffie replied. "He is just sometimes acts a bit stubborn. He really is a nice guy once you get to know him, he just tries to act real tough and hard headed 'cause he thinks he had to take care of everything and everyone."

' _Yet by acting that way, he pushes away people he wants to help. And that only isolates him more.'_

" _So he isn't... really that bad?"_ Sora asked hesitantly, still not quite sure.

' _No, I don't believe so. Just give it some time, okay?'_

' _ **Hmph,'**_ Vanitas muttered. ' _ **Whatever. I still don't trust him.'**_

Sora sighed and tried to put his thoughts and worries aside. Since Vanitas and Ventus still seemed split on the matter, he didn't want to try and take sides or have them end up arguing about it. He gave a quick nod to Yuffie, as he didn't have anything else to say, before he walked away from the group.

He looked over to where Donald and Goofy stood. They were still talking to each other as they waited by the large door. Sora breathed in deeply as he thought over everything again. He still had a few doubts about everything, but he knew he had to try and go forward. He was going to venture out into other worlds amd search for his two closest friends. He knew they were out there… he just had to look. But it did ease him to know that Ventus and Vanitas were still by his side. As long as they were with him, he knew he could manage through it all.

"All right… let's go," Sora said aloud as he headed to tell Donald and Goofy he was ready to leave.

* * *

 **So we may be a bit delayed again. TheDeadGirlRisen has had a terrible case of writer's block. And she is the main writer for Ven and Vani in our story.  
**

 **We will try to work through things, but just be aware we may be a bit before the next chapter. But he sure to check out the rest of my stories as well as hers in the meantime!**

 **Once again thank you all for reading and liking this story!**


	23. Chapter 23

**Oh hey, would you look at that. Another chapter has risen! So sorry for the delay. The usual of school, life, writers block, etc. But we got another one for all of you. THANK You all so much again for checking out this story. I seriously never expected it to get so popular. So big thanks from me and TheDeadGirlRisen!**

* * *

 **Ch.23**

After Sora had met back up with Donald and Goofy, he told them that he was ready to leave. Once they double checked over everything, they headed out towards the exit of Traverse Town. Once the group arrived, they noticed there was a portal light that would lead them back up to the Gummi ship. Sora was still feeling a bit nervous, but he breathed, trying his best to stay calm.

Donald pulled out a small remote control from his pocket and pressed a button. In the blink of an eye, Sora, Donald, and Goofy were teleported from the ground up into space, right into the Gummi ship. Currently they were in the back of the ship, where the teleporter was. Sora started to glance around seeing all the strange technological devices attached to the walls of the ship.

"Whoa…" was the only word that slipped out from his mouth.

"Just wait 'till ya see the cockpit. That's even more impressive," Goofy commented as he lead the group out.

' _ **Yes, if only for the reason that we will be able to view space.'**_

" _I can't wait to see it though, the view must be pretty at least,"_ Sora replied.

' _Oh it is. Though I've never been in a ship like this, I have been through space, I can remember that it's quite a sight.'_

Quietly, Sora followed Donald and Goofy into the cockpit. From there his eyes widened with wonder. Immediately he ran up to the side and stared out the dome glass ceiling/window. Out before him was miles and miles of stars and space. Far more stars than he ever had seen before in his life.

He couldn't take his eyes off of the view. His heart swirled with wonder as he kept finding everything so fascinating. "Oh wow… I've… I've never seen so many stars. It's breathtaking."

' _See? What did I tell you. It's truly a magnificent sight.'_

' _ **Even I have to agree it is a beautiful backdrop.'**_

Sora smiled as he continued to gaze upon all the stars. He made sure to shut his mouth and go back to thinking his thoughts, as he wanted to have a conversation with just Vanitas and Ventus.

" _I can't believe it though… that I am up here. Seeing all of this... I wish Kairi and Riku could see it…"_

' _Don't worry. Everything's going to be all right Sora. Remember we have something to tell you about Kairi, just not right now.'_

" _I know… I still worry though… But I know you guys are here to reassure me."_

' _ **That's Ventus's job, I'm here to give you the realistic truths.'**_

" _But it's the thought that counts,"_ Sora retorted. " _I know you still care. You just express it differently."_

' _ **Whatever,'**_ Vanitas grumbled.

Before Sora could answer, someone cleared their throat, pulling him from his concentration on his talk. Sora jumped slightly, but turned around to see it was only Donald. He tapped his webbed foot as he looked at Sora.

"Sora are you listening?" he asked, cleary seeing Sora had not been.

"U-Uh ... Sorry! I was just… erm… getting lost in the view," Sora said quickly, hoping that it didn't come off as too fake sounding.

"Sure," Donald replied, giving a small shrug. "Anyways as we explained before, this ship can take us to other worlds."

Goofy, who was already sitting in one of the seats in the cockpit turned around to join in the conversation. "The Heartless ships often give us a hard time."

"Wait, what?! There are Heartless… all the way out here? In space and in their own ships?" Sora exclaimed.

"We don't know too much about them," Donald answered. "They could be Heartless that are in the shape of a ship for all we know. We manage it just fine though. The gummi ship has good defences and guns to fight them off."

"Just gotta be aware when we're in flight," Goofy added in.

"Now let's head off. Take your seat and we can head off."

Sora took his seat and buckled up. Donald took the pilot seat and set the ship in motion. Soon the stars moved around them as they flew through space. Sora once again gawked in amazement. The sight was still far more than he ever expected. Looking up into the stars couldn't compare to flying through space and having an unobstructed view of them.

" _Hey guys, when do you think we will get to practice magic?"_

' _Not sure, but if we don't get time to ourselves to teach you, we can learn on the go,'_ Ventus suggested.

" _Okay, sounds good."_

After that Sora began to focus on the journey ahead. They traveled through space for a while until Heartless started to show up. Donald entrusted Sora to get to the ships weapons area, so he could fire and attack the Heartless. Sora nodded, albeit feeling a bit worried about the idea. He knew they needed to try and clear a path out from the oncoming Heartless though so he set off with determination.

There was a quick reassure from both Ventus and Vanitas though that he would be able to handle it. It would be different than swinging around a keyblade, but he would be able to manage it. Firing a weapon couldn't be too difficult after all. In fact as soon as Sora sat down in the seat and took hold of the control, he started firing right at the Heartless.

The more he focused, the better of a shot he got. Soon all the Heartless ships in the area were cleared out and the ship once again picked up speed. Sora stayed down by the weapons area though, in case another fleet showed up. Which, after a few minutes, more did. Sora got right back into attacking them while Donald tried to steer the ship out of the way.

Soon enough all the Heartless were gone again and something could be seen in the distance. Sora made his way back up to the cockpit and took his seat. Now that he was back up in the top of the ship, he could see what was coming more clearly.

"Is that… is that what I think it is?" Sora asked hesitantly as the distant round object started to get bigger and bigger.

"Yup, that's a world up ahead," Goofy replied.

Sora felt a small mix of excitement and nervousness enter his system. They were closing in on a world. Another new world to Sora. He couldn't help but wonder many things all at once.

" _What do you guys think this world is going to be like? Do you think either of you have been there before? There's probably Heartless there too, right?"_

' _ **It's nothing something to be excited about, you will be visiting many new worlds after all while we look for those friends of yours.'**_

Sora's mood shifted back to more worry than excitement. " _Yeah… I guess that is true. It is still interesting. And hey, if this is a world you guys have been to, maybe you'll finally remember something."_

Ventus hummed thoughtfully. ' _That would be nice, wouldn't it? Though right now we don't know what the world even is.'_

Sora cleared his throat, thinking of an idea. "Hey Donald, do you know what this world is called? Like how do we figure out something like that?"

' _ **And he finally asks something smart,'**_ Vanitas muttered in a slight teasing tone.

Sora had to withhold from commenting back to Vantias, as he was trying to pay attention to what Donald was about to say.

"The scanner built into the gummi ship tells us. This upcoming world is called…" He paused for a moment as he looked at the scanner, "Wonderland."

' _I don't think I've heard of that world before… doesn't sound familiar. How about you Vantias?'_ Ventus asked.

' _ **No, but it sounds like it is going to be full of annoying people… naming a place Wonderland… how lame…'**_

' _Hey, you never know. This could be a really cool world!'_

' _ **I doubt it, I mean they named it Wonderland, that's kinda pretentious don't you think?'**_

' _No, I think it makes it sound cool and well… full of wonder,'_ Ventus replied back.

" _Yeah I'm with Ventus. We shouldn't judge a world, just by the name,"_ Sora added in his own two cents.

' _ **I doubt the world will be any more interesting than any other world.'**_

" _I guess we'll just have to see,"_ Sora commented as Donald slowed down the ship to hover above the world.

After that, they headed back to the transport area to teleport down to the world. When they entered the world, a whole new crazy adventure then started for Sora. The world of Wonderland was far more crazy and weird than any of them had expected. Even Vanitas could agree with that, though he still disliked it.

There were Heartless to fight, and much to Sora's surprise they seemed to fit in to the worlds asteetics. All new types of Heartless tried to attack him, but he kept his guard up and kept his eyes on fighting.

Along the way he ever practiced magic as Vanitas and Ventus instructed him. Within a span of a few minutes he had learned the basic fire spell, which brought him delight. It started to make things easier as he went along attacking the Heartless. Vantias also found it very amusing in watching Sora set fire to the Heartless.

' _Why must you two be pyromaniacs…'_

' _ **Burn heartles burn!'**_ Vanitas cackled as Sora shot more fire at the heartless.

Ventus sighed quietly, leaving the other two to their fun.

The adventure continued on until they reached a rather large Heartless. Sora swore that it had to be bigger than the one that was back in Traverse Town as he saw it towering over them. He didn't have any time to discuss that though as the battle quickly ensured.

Sora quickly learned along the battle that fire spells against this particular Heartless were bad, so he had to refrain from using them. He did wonder what he was going to do, but Ventus said that there were other elemental magic he could learn after this. Sora had been tempted to learn a blizzard spell right then and there, but both Ventus and Vanitas warned it was safer to do so afterwards. Sora knew from past experiences that it was best to listen to them as much as he could.

Once the Heartless were defeated, Sora locked the keyhole of Wonderland and they were ready to leave. Sora, Donald and Goofy headed back to teleport to the ship and once they arrived on the ship they told Sora where the resting quarters were if he wanted to relax.

"We will handle flying the ship and fighting off the Heartless. You can take a rest," Donald said. "We'll let you know when we get to the next world."

"Yeah, you did a really good out there. You deserve it," Goofy added in with a friendly smile.

Sora started surprised. He never expected to be complimented for his work. Not by anyone other than Riku and Kairi, and then of course Ventus and Vanitas. He only stared in shock for a moment, trying to process the compliments. Thankfully Ventus spoke up to him, snapping him out of his daze.

' _You should thank them back.'_

"O-Oh… Um thank you…" Sora muttered.

Donald and Goofy smiled back at him before both telling him "You're welcome," After that they let Sora head off to the resting area. Sora walked down there quietly before entering the room. Which was a small area with three beds built into the walls of the ship. Sora walked right up to one before flopping down on it with a tired yawn.

' _ **At least we're out of that world, good job learning that fire spell, we'll have to see about finding the next level fire spell…'**_

" _There's another level?"_ Sora thought his words, far too exhausted to speak out loud.

' _I remember that there is something like that. Basically each level of the magic gets stronger. If I remember… the next fire spell is… Fira right?'_ Ventus asked towards Vanitas.

' _ **That sounds correct,'**_ Vanitas responded.

" _Oh okay. So do I just gotta keep working on it until I get better at it?"_

' _Yeah, the more you practice it, the better you will get. Then you will get it to be Fira,'_ Ventus replied. ' _But next you should focus on is bizzard, the opposite of fire.'_

" _So, is that a water spell then?"_

' _Erm.. not quite. There is a blizzard and then there is water. Two different things actually,'_ Ventus said, trying this best to explain.

" _Oh ok."_

' _ **There are also dark versions of spells, such as the fire spell,'**_ Vanitas commented.

Ventus felt a bit of apprehension towards Vanitas's comment. Even though over the past 10 years he had come to accept Vanitas, the darkness was still something he was wary of. ' _Are we sure we really would need a spell like that though?'_

' _ **I do not complain about you teaching him light spells, so why are you complaining about me teaching him dark spells? This way Sora is balanced and can use both light and dark depending on what the situation requires.'**_

' _You do have a point... I just never used spells like that before… so I am just unsure,'_ Ventus hesitantly spoke.

' _ **Just as I have never used light spells before. Also this way Sora learns from both of us equally.'**_

" _I agree,"_ Sora said, chiming into the conversation. " _Balance sounds right. So I wanna learn a little bit of both. And I know you guys can teach me!"_

' _ **Good than I will get started on teaching the dark fire spell.'**_

' _Then after that I can help with the blizzard spell.'_

Sora nodded, smiling in response. " _Thanks guys… but I think I may just rest a little first… that was a lot more fighting than I expected.'_ He didn't even hear Vanitas or Ventus's response as he quickly drifted off into sleep.

* * *

 **We did skim over Wonderland yes. We aren't going to detail each and every world. Only will have a few points here and there if it feels necessary to have. Other than that, thanks for reading again!**

 **Dead: Hello everyone hope your enjoying the story! Please let us know what you think and if you like the direction we're taking. Have a good day.**


	24. Chapter 24

**Hey, it's back everyone! And omg how did we get 300 followers?! THANK YOU all so much! I never expected to have a popular story. So thank you all for sticking around! Now let's get to the chapter!**

* * *

 **Ch.24**

Sora had to blink a couple times to let his eyes adjust as he saw a familiar sight, though with the sight a heavy pain was brought to his heart. Before him was Destiny Islands, the very place he saw destroyed. He knew it wasn't real though. He knew he was only in his dream island, but it always felt just as real.

He slowly walked along the shore until he saw Ventus and Vantias sitting a few feet ahead of him. They sat in the sand, conversing with one another. Sora smiled upon seeing them and broke out into a run to make his way over to the duo. With everything that had happened recently, he didn't have much time to go into the dream island. Now that it seemed things were starting to become less hectic he hoped that he would have enough time to visit more often.

As he ran towards Vanitas and Ventus the gentle breeze ruffled his hair, and with the coming of the breeze was the familiar scent of salt from the ocean. Making his way to the duo he enjoyed the warmth from the sun that stood high in the sky beating down on him with its warm rays. As always the temperature was neither too hot, nor too cold.

This was something that he enjoyed about the dream island. He loved his home so much that he knew every detail, and everything. So when it came to the dream, it was just like the real thing. But that still left that ache of pain in his heart. His heart knew the truth about what happened and he couldn't lie to it.

"Hi guys," Sora said as he walked up to Ventus and Vanitas.

The two of them shifted so Sora could sit between them. None of them spoke at first. They stayed quiet as the waves rolled up, nearly touching their shoes. The peaceful sound of the waves and the clear sky was enough to relax anyone.

Finally Sora decided to break the silence. He wanted to clarify a few things since they had finished visiting Wonderland. "So... I had some more questions to ask. You know, before I fell asleep."

"Yes? What about?" Vanitas asked.

"It's about what we just did back in Wonderland. I still have a lot of thoughts about things," Sora replied.

"What kind of things? Is it about magic, or fighting the Heartless?" Ventus asked as he looked from the skies to Sora.

Sora shook his head. "No… it was the other things. Two things really. One was the girl Alice. I still feel bad that we couldn't save her in time."

"There wasn't anything we could do about that. One moment she was in that cage and the next she was gone," Ventus answered with a small frown. "But I know we will find her. She has to be out there somewhere."

Vanitas scowled as he remembered the girl, in a way the girl reminded him of Kairi. She seemed to give off a feeling of light that annoyed him.

Sora took note of Vanitas's expression. "Something wrong Vani?"

Vani scowled. "That Alice, she had this feeling about her." He paused briefly in thought before he added on. "It feels remarkably similar to the feeling I often get from Kairi."

"Oh yeah Kairi!" Sora exclaimed. "You guys said you had something to tell me about her!"

Vanitas and Ventus looked to each other. They had wondered about the status of Kairi since they first sensed her. At first they figured she could show up on the dream island with them, since her heart was within Sora's, but they didn't see her. It was only the three of them and no sign of Kairi anywhere. But they could still sense her presence. She was still within Sora's heart, but apparently in a deep sleep.

Vanitas shared a glance with Ventus, his other half would be the best option to explain it to Sora. Ventus nodded to his darker half before looking back to Sora. "It's hard to explain… but your closer to her than you may think."

"What do you mean by that?" Sora asked his brows furrowing together as he tried to puzzle out those cryptic words.

"Basically… we sensed her presence after everything happened at Destiny Islands. Her heart appears to be resting within yours."

"Resting within… wait! You mean like how you and Vani have your hearts resting within mine?" Sora asked, his eyes growing bigger with wonder.

Vanitas gave a nod.

With that, it was all Sora needed for a confirmation. He jumped to his feet and began to look around. "So that means she is here? Kairi!?" He shouted loudly as he looked around. "Kairi are you here?!"

Vanitas sighed at this response. "Sora, it has only been a day or so since she has joined your heart. You were really young when we first joined, so you might not remember, but it took time for Ventus to wake up. And then I woke up sometime after him. It may be awhile before we see or hear of her. We should focus on finding Riku, and on ways of getting Kairi's heart back to her body."

Sora stopped looking around and sighed. "Oh… okay." He flopped back down to the ground. He looked disheartened now compared to seconds ago looking hopeful.

Ventus and Vanitas frowned. They hated to see Sora so sad. At least he now had the knowledge that they had been meaning to tell him. Unfortunately they still were unsure if Kairi would ever wake up, but they hoped at least that she would. They knew that Sora would be much happier if he could talk with Kairi again.

Wanting to comfort their younger brother, they both placed an arm around him and scooted closer. Sora's frown faded away as he felt the warmth of his brothers holding him closely.

"She's here though. And that's what matters. She's safe with us," Sora replied after a few minutes the small doubt he had fading away.

"Yeah, you're right about that. You're always looking out for others," Ventus replied. He stopped as he gathered his thoughts to move on to a different subject. "So, I think you said there was something else you wanted to talk about?"

Sora nodded. "Yeah, I also wanted to ask about sealing a keyhole. The keyblade pretty much just did to on its own, and I just went along with it."

"Yeah I noticed that. Alas I'm afraid I never did anything with keyholes before," Ventus replied. "How about you Vani?"

He shook his head, he never really had to do that. At least as far as he could remember. There was never a need for him to do such a thing before because he never intended to do something to help a world. At least, again, as far as he could remember. Even after all this time, a lot of events for Ventus and Vanitas were still hazy. Though recently it seemed as if they were able to recall a bunch more.

"I wouldn't know anything about that."

Sora nodded in understanding. While Ventus and Vanitas knew many more things about the keyblade than he did, he knew that they didn't always have all the answers. "Oh, okay. But at least I'm getting the hang of it."

Ventus smiled happily, "That's right! You've picked up a lot about using the keyblade. You're a natural."

Vanitas smirked before he reached up to ruffle Sora's hair, "Of course that's all thanks to us."

"Aw come on Vani, you don't believe in me?" Sora asked.

Vanitas shrugged nonchalantly, "I don't know."

Sora pouted. It was hard, near impossible to get Vanitas to give a true compliment. He always was so stubborn and harsh to most things, but Sora knew he could have his softer moments. He knew there was that soft side somewhere in there.

With a grin he leaned onto Vanitas. The unexpected extra weight caused Vantias to fall to the ground. Sora kept his hold tight though and snickered. "I know you believe in me, even if you don't say it."

"Hmph. Sure thing," Vanitas replied quickly with a roll of his eyes before trying to shove Sora off of him. "Now get off me you heavy lump."

"Not 'till you tell me how good I've done!"

"Why do I have to? Who says I have to?" Vanitas grumbled as he began to pout.

"I do!" Sora replied, a childish giggle following after.

Ventus laughed as he watched the scene unfold. It always amused him how Sora could bring out a different side to Vanitas. As he laughed Vanitas looked to him and scowled. "Don't you start laughing as well you idiot! How about you help get him off?"

Ventus shook his head. "Nah, I think Sora is right. You gotta give him some praise first."

Vanitas looked back to Sora, who was giving a cheesy grin to him. Vanitas sighed heavily and looked away, "Fine… You have been doing… decently so far."

"You can do better than that," Ventus scolded though a grin on his face indicated his amusement at the situation.

"All right!" Vanitas shouted in exasperation. He made eye contact with Sora once again. "I am… proud that you haven't died yet."

Sora's smile grew larger, "I'll accept that." He then rolled off of Vanitas and back onto the sand, staring up at the sky.

Sitting back up, Vanitas stretched. "Now, with the time we have left here, how about we teach you more magic?"

"I think that's a good idea," Ventus chimed in.

Sora jumped back up to his feet. "Yeah! Let's do it! Though… can it really work to teach me magic in a dream?"

"Only one way to find out," Ventus replied as he stood up next. "If it doesn't we can still teach it normally in the waking world."

"So…" Vanitas added before he joined the other two. "Let's begin."

* * *

 **We covered some stuff that we didn't think about last time, but it also serves as another nice moment for the three of them.**

 **But what do you guys think, should we allude to Vani and Ven training Sora with new magic or actually show it next chapter? Let us know!**


	25. Chapter 25

**Hey everyone! We are back with the next chapter. We know we are not going to cover each and every KH world, but there is this one that we will for a few good reason. Enjoy!**

* * *

 **Ch.25**

Sora opened his eyes to the room he had fallen asleep in. He knew he probably did not nap for very long, but within the nap he had plenty of time. He smiled to himself as he sat up and stretched quickly before heading out of the sleeping quarters. What had happened in the dream was more than he originally thought he would get, but it was all good nonetheless.

But, showing off what he had learned, or really testing it out in the real waking world, would have to happen another time. He quickly made his way up into the cockpit area where Donald and Goofy were. Donald was still at the pilots seat, and far out in front of them Sora could see something coming closer.

"Is that another world?" Sora asked once he took his seat.

"Yup, looks like it," Goofy answered.

"This one's called Olympus Coliseum," Donald added as he glanced to the scanner to indicate what world it was.

' _Wait!'_ Ventus exclaimed. ' _Olympus Coliseum?... I… I think I know that name.'_

" _You do?"_ Sora thought-asked to Ventus, " _Is this maybe a world you have been to before?"_

' _I think so. But, I'll have to see it when we get down there.'_

" _And what about you Vani?"_

' _ **Hmm, no I don't think it is familiar… not to me at least.'**_

" _I guess we just gotta see what's down there and see if anything comes back to you, Ven."_

' _Of course.'_

Soon the group departed and entered into the world, and once they were there Sora couldn't help but gawk at the size of the place they were in. First off there was sand covering all of the area that they were in, though he could see that there were paths outside of it that led to other places. Yet, the building in front of them was something to behold. It was the largest building he had seen and large statues stood at the entrance.

"Wow, that's pretty impressive," Sora said in awe, speaking aloud.

' _And still familiar,'_ Ventus chimed in. ' _I know I've come here now! But what I did here is still a bit fuzzy.'_

They continued on the inside of the building where they encountered a goatman who was busy with something. Far too busy to actually notice who Sora even was and ended up mistaking him for someone else. And once the goatman turned around, Soar heard Ventus gasp. It was a bit out of nowhere and a bit too loud, causing him to flich, but as far as he knew, no one else saw.

" _Ven…"_ Sora whined quietly in his thoughts.

' _Sorry, but I really do remember remember him. His name is Phil, and is a bit strange, but he trains heroes!'_

' _ **He trains heroes? He looks stupid.'**_

Both Sora and Ventus waited to hear more, but nothing else came from Vanitas. It was strange and soon there was a following quietness within Sora's mind.

" _Uh Vani? You feeling alright?"_ Sora questioned with a slight worried tone.

 _ **'Yeah? Why the heck are you asking?'**_

 _'That insult just seemed... lackluster.'_ Ventus added.

' _ **Sorry that I was trying to be polite. Would you prefer that I insulted him properly? I can tell you my thoughts, you see I was wondering how something as ugly as that beast could ever be able to give someone training of any kind. He seems prone to fucking everything up then being of any real use.'**_

" _That's a bit too harsh Vanitas…"_ Sora replied with a scolding tone while he also tried to pay attention to what was being said outside of his mind.

Currently Donald and Goofy were telling Phil that Sora was chosen by the keyblade, and that made him a hero. Sora smiled proudly and straighten up his posture when he heard that. He knew using the keyblade was new to him, but he was really getting the hang out it and starting to like the idea of being a hero.

Though to his surprise, Phil looked at him skeptically. "Hero? That runt?"

Phil began to laugh, resulting in Sora stepped back slightly. His posture changed to feeling more closed off with his muscles tensing and a frown crossed his face. Vanitas growled a bit in response to Phil's degrading tone. Ventus on the other hand knew that Phil was a bit harsh at first with things, but laughing at Sora still did not leave him feeling too happy.

' _Don't take it too personally Sora. You will just have to prove him wrong,'_ Ventus said in the most reassuring voice he could.

"Sora is a hero though!" Donald exclaimed, clearly also upset at Phil's response.

"Yeah," Goofy added in. "Sora has fought a lot of creatures so far. So ya shouldn't be rude. You know what they say, you can't judge someone based on their appearance."

Sora watched with wide eyes at the words from Donald and Goofy, " _They're defending me?"_

' _Of course! They are your friends now, and they know that you are a hero, so why wouldn't they want to prove it?'_

' _ **I still don't trust them, they are only with us because they need the keyblade wielder.'**_

' _Well I trust them, they are our friends and wouldn't leave us,'_ Ventus added.

Sora didn't say anything back. He still wasn't entirely sure on the situation. Donald and Goofy were friendly to him, and were defending him like a friend should, but he still barely knew them. He knew that he should listen to Ventus and try to trust them, but he still felt so uncertain.

"It's going to take a lot more than boasting and brawn to prove that you are a hero. So… let's see what you can do. I'll put you through a small test trail and you can prove it to me."

"Okay," Sora said, finally speaking up. "I'll do it. I'll prove it," he stated determined to prove that he was someone of worth. That he wasn't useless.

He then headed inside the coliseum and saw Phil set up some things for a few different trails. All he had to do was take out as many barrels as he could within the time limit given to him. Sora found himself smiling as he prepared to go into the trail. Taking out Heartless was one thing that he was getting use to, but taking out barrels would be a breeze. They were much easier to take out than moving target trying to attack him.

He finished rather quickly and soon headed back out to where everyone was waiting for him. Phil nodded to him. "You know, you ain't half bad, kid"

"Oh…um thanks," Sora replied quietly.

' _See? You did just fine Sora!'_

' _ **Ain't half bad. Which means Phil only thought of him as half good.'**_

' _Vani!'_ Ventus scolded. ' _You want to help keep Sora's confidence up, right? That isn't helping otherwise.'_

' _ **I think Sora is brilliant. I am only pointing out what Phil was implying with his words,'**_ Vanitas grumbled.

" _Guys, don't argue right now, I can't focus on what to say otherwise,"_ Sora whispered to them quietly.

"So does that mean we can go and enter the games?" Sora asked, remembering that was part of what was being talked about before hand.

"Afraid not," Phil replied sternly.

"But… why not?" Sora asked, his voice becoming quieter.

"Two words; You guys ain't heroes."

Vanitas snorted in amusement.

' _I guess he never learned to count properly,'_ Ventus said with a sigh.

' _ **Truer words were never spoken by you Ventus,'**_ Vanitas replied to Ventus with a note of pride in his voice. It may not have been a proper insult, but at least it was slightly downgrading. Which wasn't something Ventus would normally say.

"What can I do then?" Sora asked, really feeling like he had to do something. He didn't want to walk away crying that this one person didn't think he was a hero. He knew Ventus and Vanitas wouldn't want him to do that. He had to at least try to be a bit stronger.

"Heroes also got to know more than just swinging their fists or weapon around. Do you know any magic?"

"Yeah I know some," Sora replied.

"Do you know Thunder?" Phil asked as he crossed his arms.

"Ah… no…" Sora said as he lowered his head.

"Start by learning that and then we can see," Phil said before walking back out towards the coliseum, most likely to clean up anything left over from the trial Soar ran through.

' _ **This feels like a good time to light something... or someone... on fire,'**_ Vanitas muttered.

' _Vani, no!'_

' _ **Vani, yes,'**_ He retorted dryly.

Sora had to bite down on his tongue to prevent himself from laughing. Ventus and Vanitas's childish bickering always did cheer him up. They were exiting the building, but he still didn't want anyone to question why he was laughing after being told he wasn't a hero.

"Aw, don't take it too hard, Sora," Donald said as they walked. "Doesn't matter if he doesn't think you are a hero."

"Yeah, that's right," Goofy added in. "He just doesn't know all the great hero stuff you've done so far."

"You really think so?" Sora asked hesitantly, unsure of the words the duo were saying.

"We wouldn't have gotten this far without ya," Goofy replied with a smile.

' _ **They are in fact correct, those two useless doofus's barely seem like they can walk.'**_

' _There you go again with the insults,'_ Ventus sighed again, wishing that he could be rolling his eyes right now.

' _ **Hey I can't have you guys thinking I'm sick now can I?'**_

Sora smiled. He was happy to hear the conversation between Ventus and Vanitas still, but also for the compliments given to him by Donald and Goofy. "Thanks guys." He said it aloud, but honestly he really meant it for all four of them. He was really starting to enjoy having friends by his side aside from his brothers on this journey.

Still, as he thought of his new friends he couldn't help but remember that Riku was missing, and that they needed to find some way to get Kairi back to her own body. He was a bit worried though, if they found a way to release Kairi, would that mean that Ventus and Vanitas would leave his heart as well? He didn't think he could deal with the silence if Ventus and Vanitas left. He made sure to keep these thoughts quiet and to himself. He didn't want his brothers to worry after all.

As Ventus responded to Vanitas Sora started to tune them out so he could focus on what was going on around them. He gave a sigh as he ran a hand through his hair, "Man, it's a shame, I wanted to see what the games were about."

"Well there's always a next time," Goofy said putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Better start learning Thunder, Sora" Donald added on. "We can get to that sooner rather than later."

"Yeah, sounds good."

There was a small whoosh from behind them and the three turned around as a voice spoke up, "He's a stubborn old goat, wouldn't you say?"

* * *

 **And we know some of you wanted to see Vanitas and Ventus training Sora, but don't worry, that will come into play soon enough!**

 **Thank you all so much for reading!**


	26. Chapter 26

**Riku: You won't believe it guys! DeadGirlRisen actually got back into a Kingdom Hearts mood!** **She isn't being a lazy bum who only writes Vani lines! Which means were actually getting somewhere on this story!**

 **Dead: *lurks in the background***

* * *

 **Ch.26**

There was a small whoosh from behind them and the three turned around as a voice spoke up, "He's a stubborn old goat, wouldn't you say?"

Before them stood a tall _blue_ man, whose head was on fire. With blue flames. The man wore a black kind of robe that was pinned at the shoulder with a skull. The iris of his eyes were black, but where the whites of the eyes were supposed to be was instead an ugly sickish yellow-orange color.

"Who are you?" Donald asked in an accusatory manner, narrowing his eyes.

The man held his hands up and his fingers ended in sharp points, "Whoa, hold on there, fuzz boy," as he spoke Sora noticed his sharp teeth that were yellow as if they hadn't been taken care of very well, "Wait, let me guess… you want to enter the games, right?"

He walked over to them and grinned as he placed a hand on Sora, who couldn't help but to flinch slightly. "Well, hey, get a load of this," the blue flaming head man held his other hand in front of Sora and with a whoosh of flame a piece of something that seemed like paper appeared in his hand.

"A pass?" Sora questioned.

' _Be careful Sora, don't just trust him out the blue.'_ Ventus said. ' _Uh… no pun intended.'_

' _ **Ugh, really?'**_ Vanitas groaned and shook his head.

" _I don't trust him, but he is offering a pass…"_

' _That is true… but we can't tell if it is real or not.'_

"It's all yours..." The man told them then turned and started to walk away, but paused and glanced back at Sora, "Good luck, kid. I'm pulling for you little shorty."

" _I guess we will figure it out then when we try it."_

The three shared glances at each other before they went back towards Phil and handed him the entry pass.

"Hey, how'd you get this?" He questioned them, looking over the pass carefully.

"Can we enter the games now?" Sora questioned instead of answering him.

The goat man frowned, but gave a nod, "I guess so. We start with the preliminaries," He shook his head and then looked at them, "Some real weirdos signed up for the games, better watch yourself kid."

"Okay, thanks," Sora said before walking off to prepare himself. " _Looks like it was a real pass, but who was that guy?"_

' _ **I'm not sure, but… I can sense darkness about him.'**_

' _Plus he does have a head of blue fire… that can't be good,'_ Ventus added.

" _He doesn't seem familiar to you, Ven?"_

' _No not him… I remember two others that I met when I came here… but I am having a hard time recalling their names…'_

" _Aw, well maybe it will come to you later,"_ Sora thought back. " _But I guess now I gotta prepare for the games, and learn that new spell!"_

' _ **Make sure to crush those fools.'**_

' _Don't actually hurt someone too much… unless they are Heartless.'_

Sora smiled. " _Got it."_

He then turned to face Donald and Goofy, who were also preparing themselves. After some discussion on the games, Donald began to teach Sora the spell 'thunder'. And with the help of Vanitas and Ventus, he figured out how to use it fair quicker than he did for the other spells. Sora started to enjoy learning new spells, it was exciting to see fire, or lightning come from his hand. It wasn't something he had seen anyone one Destiny Islands do, and Sora found that he was really good at magic.

Soon they were ready to head into the games. And each round they went through in the preliminaries were just groups of Heartless. But just like every battle Sora had gone through before, he took them out in no time flat. When the rounds were over he headed out, but there were some thoughts he had to say it out loud for everyone to hear.

"How can Heartless sign up for a tournament?"

"Who knows," Donald replied.

"Yeah, it seems weird, but maybe the Heartless wanted to?" Goofy questions, trying to find a logical reason.

' _It does seem weird. But at least it makes for an easy way to take them out,'_ Ventus added in.

" _Agreed."_

Once they were back outside of the ring area, they meet back up with Phil. He nodded at Sora once he saw him. "You're no heroes yet, but you ain't doing bad. Lucky you came to me for coaching."

Vanitas snorts at Phil's arrogant statement.

' _ **As if that useless goat has actually taught you anything.'**_

' _It's just how he is… he is a bit strange now that I remember. Maybe a bit of an ego, but no ill intentions.'_

' _ **Hmpf.'**_

As they talked, someone entered the arena. He had blond spiky hair, one of the spikes seemed to stick up a half foot in a gravity defying manor. His eyes were a bright electric blue that scanned the arena for threats. A red scarf covered his mouth and extended back like a cape. As a breeze picked up Sora noticed that the end of the cape was tattered. The blonde had a giant sword, like it was as tall as the blonde was, and just as wide as well. His hands were gloved in fingerless brown gloves. One shoulder was armoured in a metal cap with screws coming out of it. His shirt and jeans were both a dark navy blue and he had on brown hiking boots that matched his gloves.

As the guy walked closer to Sora, he saw that the boy had a ton of belts criss crossing his waist. Connected to one of the belts was a wicked looking dagger. The blonde even had belts over his ankles. A gleam caught Sora's eye and he glanced at the blonde's hand to see that he had gold claws on one of the gloves. " _That looks cool."_

' _ **They do look awesome,'**_ Vanitas agreed.

"Something tells me he'll be a tough one to beat. Who knows, if you make it far enough you might end up facing him," Phil spoke, though Sora didn't pay much attention to him as he instead spoke with his brothers.

" _Think I can get something like that?"_

' _ **Yes, we can get claws.'**_

' _Really?'_ Ventus questioned with a sigh, if he had hands he would be facepalming right about now. ' _Where are we even going to get something like that? I doubt we can just ask him and have him tell us. Besides they probably cost a lot of munny.'_

' _ **We don't have to buy them. We can just make them,'**_ Vanitas replied, chuckling softly.

" _We can?"_ Sora questioned surprised, " _you mean… like a spell?"_

' _ **Exactly.'**_

' _And witch magic can we use to do that? Sora's only learned, fire, blizzard, and thunder so far.'_

' _ **Don't forget Dark Firga, but we can try it with darkness first, so he has another dark spell. If we can't get it to work then we can try light,**_ ' Vanitas paused. ' _ **Even if we do get it to work, we should try to make a light version since it might be useful against different enemies.'**_

' _Hmmm well I guess we could do that,'_ Ventus started to say, trying to gather his thoughts. ' _And hey… you suggested using light. I'm surprised at you Vani.'_

' _ **Hmpf, I knew you would suggest it anyways, I figured I would just do it so you wouldn't have to waste your breath.'**_

' _Hey! So you were just talking about the light because you didn't want me to?'_

' _ **You would have rambled on about it for awhile uselessly. I just summed it up quicker.'**_

' _Well! I… fine… but I do think the claws sound interesting at least. And using dark and light feels better to me.'_

' _ **Yes having the two different types will be useful, but we will start with dark, since he currently knows more light spells than dark spells.'**_

" _I'm ready to learn it!"_ Sora exclaimed, finally interjected himself back into the conversation.

Vanitas chuckled. ' _ **Let's learn it then.'**_

With that Vanitas started to instruct Sora on wielding the darkness and forming it so that it does as he wants it to, unlike light spells darkness required more control and knowledge of what you wanted to do. While light spells were more instinctive.

It didn't take Sora long to be able to make claws come out of his fingertips. At first they were just small stubs. But as he improved they became longer and sharper until they looked truly wicked. The claws were dark, basically pitch black and it seemed as if the darkness came of the nails in a smoke like effect.

" _These are amazing,"_ Sora thought with a wide grin as he slashed at the air.

"Hey Sora," Donald said, taking note of what Sora was doing. He looked confused as he tried to figure out what he was seeing on Sora's hand. "What are you doing?"

' _ **Say this…'**_

"Well, I saw those claws on that boy and thought it was cool, so I figured why not try and do that myself only with magic."

Now Goofy had taken notice, looking particularly curious at Sora's new darkness claw. "But I've never see ya use that kind of magic before. How did you do it?"

Sora gave a dismissive shrug, "I just did." He wasn't going to tell them that he had learned from his brothers who happened to live in his head. He didn't need his new friends to think he was crazy.

Donald and Goofy glanced at each other, exchanging confused glances. Neither of them really knew what to think of Sora's rather vague response. But he seemed perfectly fine doing what he was doing.

Sora noticed there reactions and frowned slightly, but decided not to bring it up. If they questioned him further then he might accidentally let slip something that he shouldn't know.

"Are you okay doing that though?" Donald finally asked after a moment.

"Yeah? Why wouldn't I be?"

"Well what I think Donald means is that it kind of looks like you're using darkness do make that claw thing there. We just didn't know something like that was possible to do," Goofy answered.

"Err…?" Sora didn't really know what to say to that and just shrugged at them, pretending he didn't know that he was using darkness.

' _Just tell them it was something you figured out on your own. And that you thought it would be something to try. But you should also make the light ones so you show them that you are at least using both sides if they are still hesitate to darkness.'_

" _Okay._ "

"It was just something I figured out, I wanted claws kind of like that guy had, so I made claws," Sora told them before he concentrated a bit. He knew how to do the spell in dark, and it shouldn't be too difficult to get the same effect as a light spell. It took only a few seconds before the claws became white with wisps of white smoke trailing out.

"Wow," both Donald and Goofy chimed in at the same time.

Sora gave them a grin and then with a small bit of concentration he made one hand have darkness claws and the other light claws.

"You're really good at that, Sora," Goofy replied with a smile.

"If you are that good at picking up magic, we will have to practice some more when we get the chance," Donald said, happy to see that Sora was better at magic than he originally thought.

Sora gave a smile, "That would be nice, magic is awesome."

Donald gave a nod at that and the trio continued to wait for their turn. After a bit more of waiting they were called up to fight again. When they were Sora grinned and made his claws appear one of each, it took a bit of getting used to, fighting by slashing at his enemies, but he found that it was quite a fun way of attacking. He kinda felt like a superhero from a comic he read, Wolverine.

It felt like no time had passed at all before they had finished their matches and went to speak with Phil again, "Say, you're better than I thought, kid! You have some interesting moves as well… man I wish he was here to see this."

"Who?" Sora questioned wondering what the weird goat man was talking about.

"Hercules," Phil said and Ventus gasped loudly at that shocking Sora slightly. "He's a hero if ever there was one. Too bad he's off visiting his father."

" _Why did you gasp Ven? Do you recognize the name?"_

' _Yeah… Hercules… I met him before, I'm sure of it.'_

" _What do you remember of him?"_ Sora asked eagerly as he went to sit at the bench. Other matches were currently going on.

' _Not much… just that I know him,'_ Ventus hesitated, ' _I think he was pretty lanky, with auburn hair? Erm…'_ Ventus paused again, ' _I don't think he was a hero yet though… I think he was still training.'_

" _But that was a while ago right? Like before your heart found me?"_

' _Yeah… I guess now he has become a hero. It has been a long while after all. Though I still can't quite remember the other boy… but I know he wanted to be a hero too…"_

It wasn't long before they start the final match against the blonde boy, whose name turned out to be Cloud. Seeing the giant sword, Sora decided to use his keyblade. The round started but Sora held back standing in a defensive stance as he eyes Cloud. He knew from Vanitas and Ventus that rushing in would be a foolish move.

Cloud returned his stare for a moment before he charged forward, easily knocking them back despite their defensive stance. Sora eyed him for openings, but couldn't find any, so he decided to see how the boy responded to an attack. He rushed forward and tried to strike, unfortunately Cloud easily dodged by jumping backwards. As he came down he slammed his sword down and the shock wave flung Donald harshly knocking his companion out.

Goofy rushed over to try and heal Donald, but Cloud easily intercepted him and knocked him out. Sora scowled and managed to barely dodge a few attacks, but Cloud was good, and it was easy to see that he must have been training really hard for years. His eyes flickered over to Donald and Goofy and he decided that he should forfeit. Just as he was about to call that out Cloud managed to get a hit on him sending him down to the ground and knocking the air out of him.

Cloud raises his sword and Sora clenches his teeth and braces himself against the hit, he wouldn't close his eyes though. If this was to be his end he would face it with dignity.

Sora blinked in surprise though as Cloud lowers his sword and is staring at something behind him.

Hearing footsteps he turns and sees a giant snarling three headed beast staring at him with blood red eyes.

* * *

 **So we continue in Olympus, having Sora start using darkness more :O And next the upcoming fight against Cerberus!**


	27. Chapter 27

**New chapter and more fun story stuff happening here! Thank you ALL so much for all the reviews! It really helps!**

* * *

 **Ch.27**

Hearing footsteps he turned and saw a giant, snarling, three headed beast staring at him with blood red eyes. The beast moved in to attack Sora who was prone on the ground when suddenly it was pushed back by a beefy looking man.

"Herc!" Phil called out from behind.

' _That's Hercules?! Wow… he's… changed. I mean I know he would have over the years… but wow.'_

"Phil! Get them out of here!"

With that the group rushed out of the coliseum. The goat man gave a sigh of relief, "Whew, that was close! That was Cerberus, the guardian of the Underworld. Herc should be able to handle him. But then again, maybe not... This doesn't look good. I hope Herc's okay. Wish I could go in!"

"Why would Cerberus be here though?" Sora asked, out of curiosity.

"How should I know? Probably something to do with Hades," Phil responded.

"Hades?" Goofy asked.

"The god of the Underworld of course! Don't you three know anything?" Phil said before scoffing.

" _Wait, do you guys think that the blue haired guy was Hades?"_

' _Well he did have blue skin and hair, and that really isn't normal. So probably.'_

' _ **I did tell you I sensed darkness around him, he did seem to look the part of evil. He had yellow for the whites of his eyes. That is generally a sign of evil,'**_ Vanitas deadpanned.

' _I guess so… but I hope Hercules is going to be okay…'_

Sora started to feel Ventus's worry for his friend and so he turned around and started to run back into the Coliseum.

"Kid, you're not entering the arena, are ya? This ain't just some match. This is for real!"

"I know that! I'm not afraid, besides I have to help, in any way I can."

"Be careful, kid."

He entered the Coliseum and saw that Hercules had Cloud slung over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. Cerberus was currently bearing down at them, but paused and turned to them as they entered, giving Hercules a chance to get away.

Phil came a bit closer to Sora, but didn't get close enough for Cerberus to see him, "Kid, I got two words of advice for you: attack."

' _ **You're right Ven, the idiot doesn't know how to count.'**_

" _Not now Vani,"_ Sora responded as he focused on the beast. The three headed dog roared and spat out large fireballs which Sora dodged out of the way.

Off to the side Donald was sending thunder spells at its three heads.

Seeing another fireball come his way Sora blocked it with his keyblade, deflecting the fireball back at the center head causing it to rear up in pain as it roared. The Cerberus growled as it slammed its feet down, sending a shockwave that unbalanced them.

Sora barely dodged another fireball and wiped off the sweat from his brow, that had been close. The Cerberus started to spew out dark energy that fell onto the ground creating deadly pools that Sora had to avoid.

Sora grinned as he saw Goofy on top of the beast and his companion was sending his shield flying at the multiple heads.

As the beast tried to bite Goofy in half he leapt up and whacked the beast as hard as he could on it's three heads and managed to knock it out. The Cerberus fell to the ground with a thud.

' _Good job Sora!'_

' _ **Impressive, that beast seemed pretty strong.'**_

Sora beamed as his brothers complimented him, " _Thanks guys_."

' _We should check on Donald and Goofy, make sure they're alright.'_

Sora nodded and went towards where Goofy was just standing up, "You alright?"

"He-yup, just fine," Goofy said with a grin.

"Where's Donald?" Sora questioned looking around.

"Will someone get me out from under here!" The duck's voice squawked out angrily.

Sora and Goofy followed the voice to see that Donald had gotten trapped underneath one of Cerberus's heads after it fell.

Vanitas snickered inside his head.

Goofy gave a chuckle and helped to pull Donald out from underneath the beast.

The three left the room and went into the Lobby where Phil stood waiting, "You guys should take a rest, maybe explore town, we'll speak with you in a little bit."

So the three of them explored the town and a little bit later returned to the Lobby. "There you guys are, we got a bit of a reward for you," Hercules said grinning before giving a nod to Phil.

Phil cleared his throat and then read from a piece of paper, "Thus, I do hereby dub thee junior heroes, and confer upon thee full rights and privileges to participate in the games. Further—"

Donald interrupted before Phil could even finish, "Hey! What do you mean 'junior heroes'?"

' _Yeah! What do you mean?'_ Ventus echoed in his thoughts.

"You rookies still don't understand what it takes to be a true hero."

"So, what does it take?" Goofy asked.

Hercules gave a smile, "Well, that's just something you'll have to find out for yourselves. Just the way that I did."

Sora gave a grin in response, "No problem. Once the coliseum is back up we can prove ourselves in the games. Properly this time."

"Well, it'll be awhile before the coliseum is back open. Gotta clean up the mess from the last battle first."

Sora gave a nod, "Alright, we'll be back later then."

They waved and soon left to head towards the gates. As they got closer Sora saw Cloud sitting down near the exit. " _He looks a bit sad…"_

' _Maybe we should talk to him, you know to see how he is feeling,'_ Ventus replied.

" _Should I? I… I don't know what I would say."_

' _ **Hmpf, I say we just move on.'**_

" _But I think Ven is right… it doesn't feel right to see him looking like that then just leave…"_ Sora muttered in his thoughts quietly.

' _ **Whatever.'**_

' _Just ask him if he's alright,'_ Ventus adviside as they drew closer.

" _Okay. I think I can try that at least,"_ Sora replied before walking closer to Cloud.

Once Sora was right in front of him, he cleared his throat. It was only a few simple words he had to ask, but going out of his way to talk to someone he didn't know was still nerve wracking for him.

"Hey you alright?"

Cloud looked up and gave a slow nod, "Yeah."

"If you don't mind me asking, why did you go along with him? Uh Hades I mean," Sora said, after finding out from Phil and Hercules that Hades had some involvement in Cloud being there as well as Cerberus.

Cloud looked back down at his hands which he clenched and unclenched. "I'm looking for someone. Hades promised to help. I needed to find someone… in order to try… try to fight my darkness. I tried to exploit the power of darkness on my own, but it backfired."

Cloud stood up and looked up at the sky pensively. His gaze became lost, and deep within that look there was also sadness and hurt, "I fell into darkness, and I couldn't find the light."

' _Ask who he's looking for, that way if we meet them we can let them know,'_ Ventus suggested.

"Who are you looking for? I'm looking for someone as well."

Cloud glanced at him, the longing sadness still in his eyes. "For my friend, Zack. Though… I was trying to find Sephiroth first. He… I believe he knows what happened to Zack… and why he never came back…"

Ventus coughed in shock, ' _Zack! That's the name of the other person I was trying to recall earlier! But wait… never came back?'_

"And who are you looking for?"

"My friend, Riku."

Cloud gave a nod of understanding. He then stood up, but kept his eye contact with Sora. "Don't lose sight of your goal."

"Yeah," Sora responded giving a nod in return, "I hope you can find your friend."

"Same to you," Cloud responded.

' _See? He doesn't seem like such a bad guy after all,'_

' _ **You cannot base judgement on just a few minutes of talking, people can pretend to act nice after all.'**_

' _But he lost his friend Zack… and I met Zack before. Zack was a nice guy… I wonder what happened to him,'_ Ventus replied before sighing.

' _ **And what if this Zack isn't actually his friend? But a person he is hunting down for some reason?'**_

' _I can tell though, the look in his eyes shows his honestly. Looking for your friend… I remember doing that. I know what it is like.'_

' _ **Hpmf, you can still pretend to be sad. I don't like this Cloud person. That's all I am saying.'**_

"I'd like to make it up to you," Cloud said. "For causing so much trouble before."

"Huh? What do you mean?" Sora asked.

"If you would like, allow me to at least teach you something when fighting. One of the abilities I know called sonic blade," Cloud answered.

" _Uh, what do you guys think? Should I?"_

' _ **Sonic Blade… yeah that would be useful, but me or Ventus could teach it to you, it's not that uncommon of a move.'**_

' _But Cloud is offering it right now, so we should take the opportunity. Let's not keep him waiting,'_ Ventu answered.

"O-Okay," Sora answered to Cloud. "If you think you want to then you can teach me it."

Cloud nodded before he took out his weapon. He began to explain how the ability worked, which was all mainly momentum based. It took a lot of focusing on his own energy before he could push it through his weapon to thrust it at the enemy in a series of quick movements.

It took Sora a bit of watching Cloud do it before he started to get a feel for it. It also helped that Vanitas and Ventus gave their own pointers on how to channel the energy right for the momentum. But eventually he caught on more and really got the hang of it.

"Wow," Sora mumbled as he thought over his new move. "This is pretty cool."

' _Don't forget to thank him,'_ Ventus chimed in.

"O-Oh… Um thank you Cloud. For teaching me the move… you know," Sora replied, albeit it was quietly.

"You're welcome. Hope it can help you on your journey," Cloud replied.

' _ **We should see about getting another fight sometime.'**_

" _Alright then."_

"Hey, uh, do you think we could have a rematch sometime? Fair and square, no dark powers involved. For fun?"

"I think I'll pass," He responded running a hand through his hair as he turned away.

' _ **Hmpf, he could have at least said that he would think about it.'**_

Sora smiled, though inwardly he agreed with Vanitas. " _Yeah."_ Slowly the smile faded off his face as he let out a sigh.

Surprising Cloud turned around and looked back at Sora. He saw the young boy's lonely and distant expression. Something resonating in him, and he turned around and walked back to Sora.

"I'm sorry… I didn't mean to brush it off like that. I just do not think right would be the best time for me. I still have a lot to clear out of my mind."

"Ah… okay," Sora said, dipped his head. He didn't really know if he could believe Cloud, he could feel his wavering feelings on trust lingering in him still.

"Hey, next time we see each other, I'll take you up on the offer, okay?" Cloud asked, starting to give a friendly smile.

Sora lifted his head, and found himself smiling back. "Yeah, that would be cool."

Cloud said goodbye after that and started to head off somewhere towards the town near the coliseum.

"I guess he wasn't so bad," Sora commented as he watched Cloud walk off.

"Yeah, seems like he just needed a friend," Goofy added.

The three then went to their ship and Sora went to go get some rest while they traveled to the next nearest world.

* * *

 **We've hinted about dear old Zack, but nothing more for now. It is a mystery haha**

 **But next up, we got another world coming up. What could it be and what could happen?!**


	28. Chapter 28

**Wow look at this! DeadGirlRisen has really gotten into a KH groove! So here we are with another chapter!**

 **Now we know we said before we aren't going to cover each world they visit, but there are a few like Olympus Coliseum that need a bit of touch on for certain reasons. And this next world is one of them. So we hope you enjoy!**

* * *

 **Ch.28**

Once Sora, Donald, and Goofy were back in the gummi ship, they took off to find the next world. But it was still a bit of time in between the worlds so Sora knew he could relax until that time came. He leaned back in his chair as he glanced out to the side, staring out at the stars passing by.

" _How many worlds do you think we will visit that you guys have also been to?"_

' _I don't know. I'm not sure how many worlds I have even been to, I have only been to a few, I believe? Or have I visited many worlds? I just don't know… still can't remember a lot from back then.'_

' _ **I think it is more likely to come across a world Ventus has been to than me. I know enough to know that I haven't seen as many worlds as him.'**_

" _I hope we can see more worlds that you guys know! It will probably help you remember more!"_

' _Yeah, it would be nice to be able to remember everything… including my friends,'_ Ventus said softly, remembering a blue haired woman, and a brown haired man.

Vanitas gave a snort, ' _ **I'm better off not remembering personally. What I know now is enough.'**_

" _Wait, you don't want to remember anything?"_ Sora questioned. " _Why not?"_

' _ **Before I met you, I was different. I'm actually happy now, and that is what matters. Not whatever memories I may have had back then,'**_ Vanitas spoke plainly.

" _Oh, okay. Well I am glad to hear you are happy, Vani!"_ Sora chimed happily.

' _Yeah, it's quite nice to see you all soft and nice now,'_ Ventus added teasingly.

' _ **Only toward Sora, idiot. I still hate you,'**_ Vanitas retorted hissing. Here he was being open with Sora, and Ventus had to come and ruin it with his infernal teasing.

' _Sure thing Vani-boy,'_ Ventus replied before laughing.

Vanitas growled in response. Both Ventus and Sora laughed, though Sora did his best to not laugh out loud. He didn't need to draw any attention to himself for seemingly laughing to himself.

' _ **Hmpf, I see how it is, I'm not allowed to be mean, but Ventus is,'**_ Vanitas said with a dramatic sniff.

" _But teasing isn't being mean, you know we just like to joke around Vani,"_ Sora replied.

Vanitas sighed, ' _ **I was messing around with you. Could you not tell?'**_

' _Looks like you still have a lot to learn about teasing and messing around with us,'_ Ventus said before laughing again.

' _ **It's not my fault that you have an underdeveloped sense of humor.'**_

Ventus huffed, but gave no other response. It seemed that for once he didn't have anything good to retort back to Vanitas.

It remained quiet for a few minutes in which no one said anything. Sora continued to stare out the window, but now focused more on the stars. In the distance he saw a planet slowly coming closer and closer. Sora leaned forward in his chair as he looked to see the upcoming world better. He glanced over at the scanner to see the name: Deep Jungle.

The gummi ship started to slow as they approached the world. Goofy now looked the scanner then over to Donald, who was currently the one piloting the ship. "Hey, Donald, maybe King Mickey's down there."

"In a backwater place like that? No way! Let's move on," Donald grumbled.

"No wait, we should check," Sora said, jumping from his seat. "If Goofy thinks that your king is down there, maybe Riku could be there too." He then remembered that Donald and Goofy didn't know that he discovered where Kairi was. "And Kairi too! We really should check it out."

"Forget it! We're on an important mission!"

"But what if there are Heartless?" Sora asked, trying to think of any reason he could to get Donald to go and set the landing quadrants for the word.

' _ **Jeez, what's got his feathers ruffled?'**_

"No, we just gotta move on," Donald said.

"Aw come on Donald, surely we can take a peek," Goofy replied.

"Yeah, come on. Let's try and land," Sora said as he reached for the controls of the ship.

' _Yeah, we never know what we might discover!'_

Donald grumbled as he started to fight over the controls of the ship. "But, I said no."

"And both Goofy and I agree we should land and check it out!" Sora exclaimed before he tried to get control of the ship.

"This planet is useless though! It's just some lame backwater planet, no way would the King be here!"

"You keep saying the King, but what about my friends? Riku or Kairi could be down there!" Sora responded.

"We can check another time then," Donald said as he tried to push the controls of the ship to move it forward.

Sora huffed, why wasn't Donald listening? "We're here now, we should just check it since we're here."

"We should be focusing on finding the king first, then we can look for your friends," Donald responded as they continued to struggle for the controls. Then his eyes widened, "Don't touch that! Noo!"

The ship started to shake and began a decent. It was far faster than expected and everyone held onto something as the ship came closer, and closer to the world. Everything started to be spun around as the ship lose complete balance and spun as they entered into the world's atmosphere. With being tossed around in the cockpit of the ship, it wasn't long before Sora ended up hitting his head and blacking out.

' _ **Well… this isn't good.'**_

' _Yeah… we don't even know where we are or if Sora is in a safe location,'_

' _ **Should we try and… I dunno, possess him?'**_ Feeling Ventus's suspicion Vanitas huffed as he muttered, ' _ **At least until we make sure he is safe…'**_

' _I don't know… It seems wrong to try and do that to Sora. You know like taking control of him without his consent… it doesn't seem right.'_

' _ **We don't know if he's safe though, this planet is called Deep Jungle, there is probably some dangerous wildlife. I only think we should get him somewhere safe!'**_

' _Yeah… I guess…'_ Ventus said. He couldn't explain it, but there was something about hearing the idea of possessing Sora that left him uneasy. Maybe it was something from the past… he wasn't sure. But he was starting to guess it probably was.

' _ **Look, if you don't trust me to do it after all these years, then you can do it. I just don't want Sora to get hurt.'**_

' _I know… it isn't that I don't trust you. It just feels wrong to do it… But if you think it would be best to make sure Sora is safe… then go ahead.'_

' _ **Right. Let's do this,'**_ Vanitas spoke and then concentrated.

He had given thought on how to take over Sora's body if there was ever a need, so he was fairly confident he could do this. He concentrated on pushing his will, his heart to the front. He thought deeply as he sensed his way around Sora's heart, trying to get a feel to move through it and gain control over it. He kept feeling and moving through Sora's heart, trying to get in tune to it. If he could get in sync with it, then he could try to get into the rest of the body, hopefully.

 _Ba-bump ba-bump._

The first sign that he had succeeded was he could feel his heart beating, his blood rushing, and his head pounding.

"Ugh, my head hurts," Vanitas complained out loud as he sat up slowly, then blinked in shock.

' _I take it that your possession worked?'_ Ventus questioned a hint of worry in his voice.

' _ **Yeah, it did. It's kinda weird to be using a body again after all these years. Let's find someplace safe,'**_ Vanitas thought-spoke before looking around to see where they were at.

It seemed they had landed in some run down wooden building. Plants were sprouting up between the cracks on the ground and there were broken pieces of wood scattered about. As Vanitas stood up and took a step forward the wood creaked ominously below him. Looking up, he saw a few vines hanging across the roof area.

Towards the back of the wooden building stairs and ladders led up to a couple small platforms and there seemed to be a tree growing out the side of the building at an angle. Carefully walking around he looked around to see if there was anything useful, or if there was anything dangerous.

' _I wonder where Donald and Goofy are?'_

' _ **Those two? It's that ducks fault that were here!'**_ Vanitas retorted angry that Donald hadn't listened to Sora and let him look for Riku.

Ventus winced at that. ' _Donald was just being difficult,'_ He tried to defend the duck.

' _ **Difficult! He openly said that he didn't care about looking for Sora's friends!'**_

' _That's not what he said! He was just wanting to find their king first.'_

' _ **And what do you think would happen once they find their king? They would leave Sora! Stop being so dense Ventus! Was what just happened not proof enough? Do they need to betray us again for you to understand that they only care about Sora because he's a keyblade wielder?!'**_ Vanitas shouted at his lighter half angrily.

' _I just… I don't…'_

' _ **How can you continue to try and defend those two after what they just did?'**_

' _Goofy didn't do anything! He was wanting to check as well!'_

Vanitas grumbled, ' _ **Yeah the mutts in the clear, but that doesn't let the duck off the hook!'**_

Ventus remained quiet and Vanitas huffed. Pausing he glanced around, something felt off. He looked up just in time to see a leopard pouncing towards him. Vanitas narrowed his eyes and summoned his keyblade and raised it up to block.

The keyblade that answered him was Void Gear, eliciting a smug grin. It felt good to have his Keyblade respond to his call. He gripped the red handle and he slashed the keyblade at the leopard, the end of his keyblade gear like head damaging the leopard. The leopard growled at him it's tails swishing and Vanitas chuckled.

"Come at me you big fur ball," He taunted.

The leopard lept at him and Vanitas shot of a dark firga at it. The leopard yowled in pain as it crumpled to the floor, part of its body burned.

' _Vanitas!'_ Ventus shouted angrily.

' _ **What? I'm taking care of the creature.'**_ Vanitas spoke as he walked closer to the wounded cat intent on finishing it off.

As he walked closer though he noticed that only the fur seemed burned and he quickly lept back as the leopard pounced towards him. Vanitas raised Void Gear to block the attack, but someone was suddenly in front of him blocking the Leopard with what looked like a spear.

Whoever it was sent the creature flying back and then the leopard made it's escape as it leapt out of the glass. The man put his spear away and turned towards Vanitas who eyed him wearily. The man had long brown dreadlocks and was naked except for a loincloth. The man was crouched low to the ground, his knuckles dragging along the ground.

"Sabor, danger."

Vanitas nodded. "Yeah, I figured that," He told the man keeping an eye on the stranger and ignoring Ventus's sigh.

' _At least try to act like Sora.'_

' _ **... I'll try, no promises though,'**_ Vanitas reluctantly agreed.

"What is this place?" Vanitas questioned.

The strange man tried to move closer, but Vanitas backed away.

"This place, this place."

Vanitas huffed at the useless answer. "I'm looking for some… _friends_. A boy around my age, Riku. An annoyingly loud Duck, Donald. And a tall one that goes by Goofy."

The man looked confused.

' _ **Great, seems we got saved by a simpleton.'**_

"I'm looking for some friends," Vanitas said slowly trying to get the strange man to understand. If the man didn't get it after this he was just going to leave. This man couldn't be useful.

"Friends?" The man questioned.

"Yes, do you know of any other new people are?" Vanitas growled out.

"Friends here."

Vanitas blinked, surprised, surely this man didn't actually know where any of Sora's friends were located. "Really?" He drawled out.

The man said something in a strange tongue that Vanitas didn't recognize.

"Care to say that in English?" Vanitas questioned.

"Friends here."

"Just take me to the location," Vanitas grumbled annoyed.

' _You could try to be a bit more polite like Sora.'_

' _ **I haven't attacked the man yet, have I? I think I am doing a fairly good job.'**_

Ventus just shoved his annoyed feelings at him and Vanitas scoffed.

The idiotic man pointed to himself. "Tarzan. Tarzan go."

"Alright. I'll follow you then," Vanitas said, neglecting to return a name.

Tarzan opened the door and they walked out of the tree house. Neither Ventus nor Vanitas knew where they were heading in this strange jungle world, but they could only hope to find some answers. And on top of that hope that Sora recovered eventually, but for the time being Vanitas was in control… and Ventus could only hope that Vanitas did a good enough job to pass as him.

* * *

 **So now Vanitas is in control! Oh dear, what could happen with that haha.**


	29. Chapter 29

**It is time for chapter 29. Vanitas is in control and in Deep Jungle. How will this go? Well only one way to find out!**

* * *

 **Ch.29**

The incompetent man led them away from the treehouse to a series of thick moss covered tree branches. The man jumped onto one and began to slide down it, gliding along by his feet. Vanitas smiled at this, maybe this world wouldn't be a complete bore after all. He jumped onto the large branch and began to slide down, letting the wind whip against his face.

They slid down branches and Vanitas enjoyed every moment of it, though it didn't take long for them to arrive at a camp where tents were laid out and there were some long tables with equipment placed on them. Tarzan led them to an orange tent where a woman was fumbling with a projector.

"Jane!" The wild idiot called out.

"Tarzan!" She greeted happily then saw him standing there with his arms crossed, "Oh and who is this?" She asked walking closer to him.

"My name is-" Vanitas started but was cut off.

"Oh, you speak english! So, obviously you're not related to Tarzan…" She said seeming despondnt at this. Vanitas scoffed at that, but Jane didn't seem to notice. "Well then, does that mean you are here to study the gorillas?" She questioned.

"Highly doubtful," another person spoke as they entered the tent. Vanitas glanced at the man and saw he was tall with a large rifle on his back. But, Vanitas could also see a small bit of darkness around the man. Behind him though stood Donald and Goofy.

"Sora!" Goofy called out cheerfully.

"Goofy," Vanitas returned trying to give one of Sora's smiles while he ignored the duck. Though internally he was screaming at himself for trying to sound so nice and friendly, he knew he had to. It was either that or Ventus would end up taking control, and Vanitas wanted as much time as he could to be the one in control of everything.

Donald scowled and crossed his arms.

' _Vanitas…'_ Ventus stated warningly.

' _ **I know! I'm just going to ignore the duck, I won't say anything to him until Sora wakes up.'**_

' _Just.. if you want to say something mean, perhaps let me know and just repeat what I tell you to say?'_

Vanitas gave a huff inside his mind. ' _ **Only if I can't think of what to say to at least somewhat pretend to be Sora.'**_

' _Good enough I suppose.'_

"A circus of clowns," The newcomer said dismissively. "Not much use for hunting gorillas." The man turned and started walking out of the tent.

"Mr. Clayton, we are studying them, not hunting them," She reprimanded. "This is research."

She sighed as the man, Clayton, had already left, and probably hadn't heard a word she said. "Well the more the merrier. Do make yourselves at home."

Vanitas just nodded. It seemed now he would just have to look for any signs of Riku.

"I'm staying," The duck muttered surprising Vanitas. But he choose not to give any comment to whatever the duck chose to do.

But he narrowed his eyes at the duck. But then Goofy spoke up before any tension could arise. "Sora, look what we found. Look at this."

Vanitas glanced and saw it was a red block, similar to the stuff that the gummi ship was made out of. Gummi ship, honestly whoever named the ship that had to be obsessed with those candies.

"It's a gummi block, the same stuff used to build our ship," Goofy explained, though it wasn't needed.

"I figured," Vanitas stated briefly with a nod towards Goofy.

Donald gave an annoyed huff, "Which means the King could be here! We gotta work together to look for him!"

Vanitas gritted his teeth a bit, biting back the first response that came to his mind. "I'm not looking for your king right now, I'm looking for my friends." Vanitas then went back to ignoring the duck as he turned to Goofy, "If you want to help me find my friends, _you_ are welcomed to join."

Ventus gave another sigh, but didn't comment. Vanitas turned towards the woman, Jane. If it was at all possible, maybe Riku was actually here. That would be not only helpful but a relief to Sora. "I'm looking for some friends of mine, has anyone else shown up in this camp?"

She shook her head, "No, sorry."

Vanitas frowned. "Tarzan said something my friends being here, and some word in a strange language."

"He was speaking in gorilla… maybe we can show some slides and see if he reacts to one of them. You never know what may help" She suggested before looking around. "Oh where are those slides? I know they were somewhere around the came."

He sighed, "I'll help you look for them."

Vanitas really didn't want to help look for anything, but he knew it was something Sora would try to do. And he still was trying to not have Goofy and the duck be too suspicious of him. Thankfully it didn't take long for them to find the slides and return it.

The first slide had him narrowing his eyes, and Ventus gasping. The slide showed a castle, large and grandiose. It stirred a familiar feeling within him, though he wasn't too sure how to explain it.

' _I recognize that place… but I can't remember the name.'_

' _ **Yeah, same… I feel as if I have been there before.'**_

' _I agree… maybe it was a world we've been to before… but why can't we remember the name?'_

"What's the matter Sora?" either Goofy or the duck asked. Vanitas wasn't too sure as he had been more focused on thinking on the situation with the picture and what else Ventus had to say.

"Nothing."

They quickly went through the rest of the slides. None of the others gave the same reaction as the first one did for Vanitas and Ventus though. "Well Tarzan?" Jane asked eagerly wanting to learn more.

The ape like man shook his head.

Vanitas nearly scoffed, of course the _animal_ didn't actually know where his friends were at. What a waste of time this world was going to be.

"That just leaves one place," Clayton stated as he entered.

He narrowed his eyes at the man, not trusting him, especially since the darkness seemed to have increased a bit in the man. There were clear signs of the darkness growing in his heart by now. "Young man, we've been in this jungle for some time now. But we have yet to encounter these friends of yours. I'd wager they're with the gorillas. But Tarzan refuses to take us to them."

Jane sighed, "Really Mr. Clayton. Tarzan wouldn't hide-"

"Then take us there! Take us to the gorillas," The man walked over to Tarzan, "Go-ril-las," He mimed slowly as if speaking to a particularly dense child. Which might be a pretty apt description for Tarzan.

Tarzan looked hesitant for a moment before he looked over to Vanitas before nodding.

"Tarzan… are you sure?"

"Tarzan go see Kerchak."

"Kerchak?"

"Perfect! Kerchak must be the leader, I will go along as an escort. The jungle is a dangerous place after all."

' _ **As if we need an escort,'**_ Vanitas scoffed inside of his mind, just so he wouldn't say that outloud.

Vanitas left the tent with the duck and mutt following behind him. Sabor attacked once more, but was quickly sent back into the jungle. They were led through the forest and soon followed Tarzan up some trees where they continued for a few more minutes before they encountered two gorillas. "Kerchak," Tarzan said greeting one, before looking at the smaller one, "Kala."

Kerchak narrowed her eyes as she looked sternly at all of them. Tarzan started to speak in gorilla again and Vanitas wager a guess he was trying to get them permission to see the home of the gorillas to look for Riku. Though Vanitas was starting to doubt Riku would even be on this world.

"Uh, did you get that?" Goofy asked with a droopy eyed expression. He looked lost.

"No," Donald stated.

Tarzan once more said, "Kerchak."

The gorilla turned his head towards the treetops before starting to leave. The smaller gorilla started to follow after.

Goofy seemed to be thinking out loud as he said, "Huh, he seemed sorta distracted by something."

All of the sudden Donald took off and Goofy and Tarzan followed after him. With a huff Vanitas followed as well, wondering why they all seemed to be in a rush. He heard the gunshot and arrived in the tree house a second behind Goofy and Tarzan.

"What's the big idea?!" Donald demanded glaring at Clayton.

Tarzan said something to Kerchak in gorilla, as Kerchak walked away with a scowl. The young gorilla followed afterwards as Donald continued to glare clayton.

"You don't understand. I was only trying to… Ah. A snake slithered by, you see. I saved that poor gorilla's life."

Vanitas quietly snorted, that was a lie if he ever heard one. The man clearly was terrible at lying. But it seemed that the others were more likely to believe it, at least that is what he figured. So Vanitas just followed along quietly, keeping an eye on Clayton as they headed back to the camp.

"How could you do such a thing!" Jane shouted angrily at clayton once she was informed of the situation.

"Now Miss Porter, as I told you, I was not aiming at the gorilla."

The sound of skin hitting skin ranged out as Jane slapped Clayton across his face. "You are not to go near the gorillas again!"

' _ **I think I like her,'**_ Vanitas commented to Ventus in amusement as he saw a red mark forming on Clayton's face. Maybe the people around here were smarter than he gave credit to.

"All because of one mishap?" He questioned with a nervous laugh, "Come, now…"

Vanitas glared at him along with everyone else. The man was getting more and more darkness in his heart, and he wouldn't be surprised if Heartless started to show up and he said as much to Ventus. It wasn't much later that a shot rang out and they rushed out of the tent.

"Just as I thought," Vanitas muttered out loud.

' _Just how is it that you can sense the darkness of people, while Sora and I can't?'_ Ventus wondered to Vanitas.

' _ **Probably because I am pure darkness,'**_ Vanitas replied before concentrating on fighting the Heatless with magic. He didn't want to summon his keyblade right now, as the duck and mutt would see Void Gear and would question it. He of course stuck mostly to using Dark firga and the darkness claws, which he decided to name Void Claws for now. He tried to use a light Blizzard spell, but using the light version of magic hurt. It wasn't hurting him physically, but his own heart, so he stuck to just using the dark spells.

After they defeated the Heartless and saved the gorilla it gave them a gummi block before returning to Jane. "Don't mind Mr. Clayton, he's not a bad person… just a bit impetuous."

Seeing as Clayton was missing they took a look around fighting more Heartless and protecting other gorillas from the creatures. It was a mindless task to Vanitas, but without much else that they could go on, it was all he could do in the meantime.

"Why aren't you using your keyblade?" Goofy asked as they returned to the tent after clearing out some Heartless.

"Just practicing using magic and fighting with my claws," Vanitas answered in what he hoped was a reassuring voice. "Though now would be a good chance at least."

Judging by Ventus's snort he didn't fair very well. Still the duck and mutt let the matter drop.

Jane bit her lip slightly and spoke up, "I do hope Mr. Clayton is safe…"

Hearing a gunshot coming from the direction of Bamboo thicket they rushed out. As they arrived they found Clayton's pipe on a mound in the center. Sabor attacked them and they fought the giant cat for a bit before they managed to knock it out. The group returned to the tent to find it empty.

' _ **Oh great, now we have to go and rescue Jane. Why are we even wasting our time here, it seems fairly obvious that Riku isn't here,'**_ Vanitas grumbled to Ventus.

' _We have to help these people, we can't leave in the middle of it!'_

' _ **Hmpf, I'm only helping cause I get to fight some stuff and have some fun.'**_

' _If you say so Vani-boy,'_ Ventus replied with a chuckle.

" _ **And I swear if I see that stupid leapord again… I will totally-"**_

Vanitas's scowl and angered thoughts stopped quickly as he saw Goofy walk over to Tarzan. "Where's Jane?"

"Something coming. Jane, danger. Jane near… near tree house,"

"Sounds like trouble, let's go!" Donald commanded and Vanitas was tempted to not go just because of that. But then he huffed, knowing Sora would want to protect her if he actually had interacted with her. Despite being shy and self conscious, he would have easily made friends with the woman because of her kindness. That boy was still very trusting to a degree, even after everything he had gone through. Though it often was because of Ventus's prodding.

They soon came across Jane and a gorilla in a web of vines. They fought off more Heartless and destroyed a weird fruit and released Jane and the young gorilla from before from the cage of vines. She then proceeded to tell them that Clayton had been involved, which wasn't surprising.

The gorilla and Tarzan were talking in gorilla before Tarzan turned to them. "Gorillas trapped. Terk ran."

So they went to a cliff area where gorillas have been rounded up by Clayton and the Heartless. Vanitas saw Clayton load his gun and is about to shoot it. "Don't you dare!" Vanitas shouted trying to distract the man.

He could see that the darkness had consumed Clayton. If it weren't for Vanitas sensing the clear large amount of darkness in the man, then the next key would have been the darkened look in his eyes.

"Clayton?" Goofy questioned.

"Not Clayton!" Tarzan stated.

He said a word in gorilla before repeating what he just said.

Soon they were fighting against the man Vanitas stuck mostly to launching dark firga and using the void claws. There was a giant invisible creature that seemed to be under Clayton's control. But with enough attacks it caused it to lose it's invisibility. The chameleon continued to attack them and a little while later Tarzan managed to knock Clayton from the creature's back.

"Lazy beast!" Clayton spat as he picks himself up and the battle continued. It was a few minutes of fighting later when they managed to defeat the Heartless and Clayton causing both to disappear.

The gorillas gathered around and Vanitas glanced at them waily as Kerchak walked up to them. ' _Don't move,'_ Ventus instructed as Vanitas started to take a step back.

He paused and instantly regretted it as Kerchak closed in grabbed him by his jacket collar then tossed him through the air. "Oof!" Vanitas grunted as he landed on top of the cliff with a thud. The duck and mutt were thrown up as well while Tarzan climbed up.

' _ **Lousy monkeys, what's the big idea throwing us up here! After we saved them, hmph what an ungrateful lot!'**_ Vanitas ranted inside his mind to Ventus.

"Tarzan, home," The ape like man spoke.

Vanitas blinked and followed after Tarzan into a deeper part and they soon saw a giant ancient tree with a glowing nest of butterflies.

"This is your home?" Goofy questioned.

Tarzan stops him and places a hand to his ear.

"Huh?" The duck questioned.

They stopped and listened and heard the sound of roaring water.

"The waterfalls… they're echoing all the way here."

Tarzan repeats the gorilla word he has been repeating.

"Friends there. See friends."

"Oh, now I get it!" She stated happily as she said the word, "It means heart. Friends in our hearts…"

"Heart…" Tarzan echoed.

Vanitas rolled his eyes, go figure the wild man didn't know where Riku was. It was all some dumb heart saying or something in the end.

"Friends, same heart. Clayton, lose heart. No heart, no see friends. No heart, no friends."

Vanitas lip twitched up in amusement, he didn't think that Tarzan realized just how real that was in Sora's case. Sadly though Sora was still not awake to hear the statement. He would have to remember to tell it to Sora later.

"I'm sorry," Donald apologized.

Vanitas stared at him, trying to not seem so annoyed with his expression. He tried to keep himself, or really Sora's, face unsure and simple.

"I need some time still," He said in lieu of agreeing or disagreeing, he wouldn't make a decision for Sora. If it were up to him, though he wouldn't forgive the duck easily, if ever. Ventus huffed at it until Vanitas told him he was leaving the decision for Sora, which shut up his light counterpart.

Donald frowned at this looking sad.

Vanitas paused as a keyhole revealed itself, he knew that he had to close the keyhole, but that would reveal Void Gear… what was he supposed to do? If he were to summon Void Gear out of nowhere, Donald and Goofy would no doubt be suspicious. And Vanitas was sure no explanation would be good enough to explain a random new dark powered keyblade.

' _ **What should we do? I don't think I can access Sora's keyblade,'**_ Vanitas muttered quickly.

' _Let me try then. I can probably do it since it is a light based keyblade,'_ Ventus replied.

' _ **But you hold your keyblade differently. Wouldn't that still be a bit weird to just summon it like that if it is Kingdom Key?'**_

' _I suppose… but I can make sure to summon it as Sora does if I can. He's done it enough times now it really wouldn't be too hard for me to do it.'_

' _ **Fine then. Go ahead,'**_ Vanitas said as he felt Ventus started to come through Sora's heart to take his place. THey had to do it quickly anyways otherwise they feared if too much time was in between Sora could still be unconscious.

It pass of the control went easy and quick and now Ventus stood in control of Sora. He straightened up and held out his hand forward like Sora did each time he summoned it before. He concentrated as hard as he could, as he felt the keyblade summoned to his hand.

He breathed an internal sigh of relief to see that it was in fact Kingdom Key that was summoned. Without much else it to it, the keyblade instinctively started pointing itself to the keyhole.

When the keyhole finished sealing itself a green gummi block fell to the ground. "A gummi!"

"But it's sure not the kings."

The group quickly went back to the tent and Ventus marveled at the feeling of being in control of a body, even if it wasn't his. He had spent so long as a voice in Sora's head, as a disembodied heart, that he had nearly forgotten what it was like to have a body. Having only a few accessible memories of when he was alive hadn't helped either.

"We better get going, my friends aren't here, neither is the king," Ventus said glancing at Goofy and Donald.

"Where is your ship, anyway?"

"It's uh, not too far." Donald answered

"Sora, Tarzan, friends," Tarzan spoke in a kind voice.

Ventus gave a smile. "Of course, thank you. I am glad we are friends."

Vanitas gave a scoff inside of their head. The group made it back to the gummi ship. "This block is not like the others, what do you think it's for?"

"I dunno."

"Maybe Leon'll know."

"He might, back to Traverse Town then?"

"Yeah, sure. I'm gonna go rest up," Ventus replied and went to the sleeping quarters. Once there he flopped down on the bed and stared up at the ceiling. While it felt nice to be walking around on his own in the real world, he knew it couldn't last.

' _We need to wake Sora up.'_

' _ **But how? He's been unconscious for awhile…'**_

' _I'm not sure…'_

' _ **Well this controlling of him seems to be working out for now,'**_ Vanitas spoke but Ventus could hear and feel the worry coming from Vanitas.

He frowned as he felt as if his grip on Sora's body was weakening.

' _Are you trying to take control?'_

' _ **No, why?'**_

' _I think Sora might be waking up then, my hold is slipping,'_ Ventus told him as he felt himself completely lose control.

" _Guys? What's going on? Weren't we crashing?"_ Sora questioned as he looked around to see himself in the sleeping quarters.

' _ **We have a lot to tell you.'**_

* * *

 **That was quiet the adventure. But now Ventus and Vanitas gotta explain it all to Sora. Wonder how he will react to hearing what went down. Hmmm see you all next time!**


	30. Chapter 30

**Look at this! It is the 30th chapter of this story! Woo *throws confetti* Thank you all for the support thus far, we couldn't have done it without all of you!**

* * *

 _"What do you mean we already went to a world and sealed the keyhole?"_ Sora asked once Vanitas and Ventus gave him the basic rundown of what happened. Though to him it still seemed weird and bizarre for what went on for him. One moment they are crashing, the next everything is fine and they are heading back to Traverse Town.

' _ **We mean exactly that. You were unconscious for a while and so we decided to make sure you were safe. Ventus and I ended up sealing the keyhole, unfortunately we didn't find the brat. But I think you made a new friend… so… that's good?'**_ Ventus ended his statement in an unsure tone, only adding it due to Ventus's mental prodding. Why wasn't Ventus the one telling Sora these things anyways?

" _But… it just feels weird… cause I don't even know what went on or who you met. I have a new friend that I don't even know now…"_

' _I know it's a lot to take in, but we had to do it to make sure you weren't in any danger. Which you could have been if we hadn't acted on doing it,'_ Ventus added.

' _ **Sabor seemed pretty intent on mauling us, that's for sure,'**_ Vanitas muttered.

" _Still… why are we back here in the gummi ship? Do you really expect me to believe that Vanitas forgave… you know who…?"_ Sora questioned, not really wanting to actually say the name that was on his mind. The events before were still fresh in his mind, since to him that was what happened last.

' _ **Oh I haven't forgiven him, I'll leave that up to you. I'm still fully pissed at him, but they have the means for us to travel through space, so unless we get another means of visiting planets we have to stick with them.'**_

' _But Donald did apologize!'_ Ventus added in quickly.

' _ **We could make him sweat it out a bit, maybe make him grovel and beg forgiveness…'**_

" _But…"_ Sora whispered. " _That's not really a nice thing to do to someone… even if he did argue with me I wouldn't want to do that to him."_

' _ **It's no big deal, your just letting the message sink in that he messed up, that's all.'**_

" _If he is sorry though… I um… I guess I should try and talk to him about it. That's the right thing to do. It feels like it anyways… I don't want to make anyone feel worse than they already are,"_ Sore replied slowly as he sat up. " _I would feel really bad if I kept making him do that when he already wants to apologize."_

' _ **Still, he should show more consideration to you wanting to look for Riku,'**_ Vanitas grumbled half-heartedly.

' _I think he does understand now with what we went through in that world. Sora, you're right though. You should talk it out with Donald rather than making him wait. You got the right idea.'_

Vanitas scoffed but said nothing in response.

Sora got off the bed and may his way to the front of the ship. Donald was still at the pilots seat and steering them back in the direction of Traverse Town. Slowly Sora shuffled up to the front and glanced over to Donald.

"Hey… um Donald?" Sora asked, his voice softer than normally.

Donald looked up. "Yeah, Sora? You feeling better?"

"Y-Yeah I guess…" Sora mumbled as he placed a hand on his other arm. "But I uh… I wanted to say something. Or I mean… talk about before."

Donald set the controls to auto pilot before turning his chair to face Sora. "Okay Sora, I'm listening."

"I… I wanted to say…" Sora began to rub his arm slowly. He could feel his heart racing as he stared at Donald. "Hmm before… before we crashed and what happened back in Deep Jungle… I'm…"

Sora closed his mouth and lowered his head. He could feel his whole body shaking as the words from the argument came back to him. "I still can't… not right now… I'm sorry…"

Sora turned around quickly and made his way back to the sleeping quarters. When he got there, he flopped face first into the pillow and let out a frustrated sigh that slowly morphed into a small sob.

Vanitas gave a mental prod to Ventus for him to do something.

' _You okay Sora?'_ Ventus asked gently.

" _I couldn't do it… I got too nervous and I remembered only the argument we had. And it made me really upset. I know you said he apologized and he did look like he was sorry when I went to talk to him. But I couldn't actually say it back…"_

' _Are you sure you're ready to apologize? It may be the right thing to do, but you shouldn't apologize if you don't mean it.'_

" _I want to though… I really do cause I know it is the right thing. But I'm… I'm scared of what will happen next…"_ Sora muttered. " _What if I say the wrong thing and he gets mad at me again. What if he still is, but was trying to be nice? What if neither of them like me anymore…"_

' _They like you Sora, their your friends, it's normal for there to be a few bumps along the road, but everything will turn out fine!'_ Ventus said trying to reassure Sora.

" _You sure?"_

' _Of course!'_

" _I know Vani probably doesn't believe that…"_

' _You know Vani, he's just a big ol grumpy boy,'_ Ventus said cheerfully ignoring Vanitas's scoff. ' _It takes him awhile to like people, give him time and he'll like Donald and Goofy just as he has come to like Riku and Kairi.'_

' _ **Yeah right,'**_ Vanitas muttered.

" _Ven's right though,"_ Sora said as he sat up. " _You use to hate Kairi and Riku. But I know you do care for them now! So… yeah you're right Ven, I think things can get better. Just gotta give it some time."_

' _ **I detest those two buffoons,'**_ Vanitas snarled in a low voice.

Sora hummed thoughtfully, eventually shrugging. " _Maybe we will just have to wait and see what happens. But thanks guys for talking to him. It helped."_

' _ **Hmpf, at least we discovered something new that could be useful in an emergency.'**_

" _Yeah I guess it is kind of helpful in battle. Now that I know you guys can do it, it makes me feel a bit safer,"_ Sora replied before smiling.

' _ **I wonder though, do you think we can do it when your awake, if you gave us permission? It seemed that as soon as you woke up, you took Ventus out of control, without even realizing you were doing it. What do you guys think?'**_

" _I don't know… it's all new to me so I wouldn't have a clue about it,"_ Sora replied.

' _ **Perhaps something we can experiment with…'**_

Sora was about to reply when speaks on the ceiling turned on. "Sora, we are approaching Traverse Town." It was Goofy's voice. "So uh, ya know if you are ready and all, just let us know and we can head out to land."

"We'll have to test it out later," Sora said aloud as he stood up from the bed. "When we go to the next world and stuff maybe."

It didn't take long for them to arrive down in the first district of Traverse Town where they found Yuffie. They exchanged greetings before Sora decided to ask one question. "You know anything about this gummi block?"

"Ah, no I'm afraid not, you should go see Cid, he might know more," Yuffie answered. "Though if you want to find Leon, he is probably in the underground cavern. He likes to train there. Just take the channel by the alleyway and that will lead you there."

"Okay," Sora replied before heading off. " _Should we go down there first?"_

' _I think we should. Just in case Leon has anything important to tell us,'_ Ventus said.

He told Donald and Goofy where he wanted to head and the three of them walked to where Yuffie instructed. When they made it down there they saw that Leon was in fact practicing with his gunblade, and Aerith was standing off to the side watching him.

Once there, Leon stopped his training and looked to Sora and began to ask about what had happened so far. Sora breathed in slowly before talking to Leon. He still wasn't too sure what to feel on the guy. But he knew he could not ignore him after all. But there was still a bit of hesitation around him.

Leon had asked about the keyholes and Sora explained that he sealed two so far. Leon then went on to explain a bit about the keyhole, but Sora had already picked up enough information on it from the help of Ventus and Vanitas. But eventually something was said that really drew his attention.

"The Heartless enter through the Keyhole and do something to the world's core," Leon said as he crossed his arms.

"They do something? Like what?" Sora asked.

"It disappears in the end," Aerith answered.

"What!" Sora exclaimed. " _Is… is that true guys? What happened to home… it's gone?"_

Ventus hesitated to answer at first. The subject was a bit sensitive to Sora and he didn't want to upset him any further than he already was feeling. But he knew the truth couldn't be avoided. ' _That's what it sounds like… if the Heartless hurt the heart of the world then it probably would have been destroyed…'_

Sora's shoulders slumped. His home… the islands… were gone. All because of the Heartless invading. If only he had known sooner, maybe he could have done something about it. If only he had known… maybe he could have prevented the disaster all together and everything would still be fine.

"That's why your key is so important," Leon said disrupting Sora's thoughts.

"Yeah I know that…" Sora retorted slightly with a bit of a sneer. He didn't mean to sound annoyed, but he already knew this fact and was still left upset that he couldn't use the keyblade before to save his own world.

"Sora, please lock the keyholes. You're the only one who can. Help other worlds so they don't also fall into darkness because of the Heartless," Aerith said in a kind voice.

"Of course I will! You think I want to have other worlds be destroyed!?" Sora questioned, surprised they would even think he would hesitate to help prevent other worlds from suffering the same fate.

"No, it isn't that Sora," Aerith replied, keeping her calm and kind demeanor. "We just know that it is a lot to put on your shoulders. You're still young and this is a big task. We wish there was more we could do to help, but there isn't much we can do currently."

"I'll be visiting other worlds anyways to look for my friends, it doesn't make that much difference if I seal them while I'm there."

"I believe seeing those other worlds would also be a good experience for you," Leon added in. "I only wish there was more I could do…" the last part he muttered quietly as a solemn look washed over his face.

' _ **Hmpf.'**_

' _Seems like he may need some time to himself,'_ Ventus said taking note of Leon's expression. ' _We can probably move on for now.'_

Sora turned to leave when he heard Leon's voice again. "Wait, Sora. Take this with you." He held out an earthy orange colored gem. "This stone holds some mysterious power. I've been carrying it around for luck since I found it. But I want you to hold onto it now."

Sora started at the gem, looking at its glossing color. But he didn't reach out and take it right away. He gave a glance up to Leon. "Why don't you want it anymore?"

"I only think that it would be more useful to you than me," Leon replied. "Perhaps you can even figure out how to use it."

' _You should take it Sora, to be polite. And who knows, maybe it will be helpful in someway'_ Ventus added.

' _ **He's probably giving it to us because it's cursed,'**_ Vanitas said just after Sora took the stone from Leon.

' _No it isn't! It doesn't look or feel that way,'_ Ventus commented. ' _Don't be so superstitious.'_

"Thanks," Sora muttered quietly before he forgot. He then turned to leave the area with Donald and Goofy in toe.

Once they were back in the First District they went to see Cid, who told them about the gummi blocks that they had found. It was all rather confused to Sora, Ventus, and Vanitas, but Cid seemed to know his stuff.

He even said he would help install the new gummi blocks, though he asked if they could deliver something for him in the meantime. It was an old book that he apparently helped restore. Once Cid told them where to go, they headed off.

* * *

When they got to the location that they were supposed to go, it was a bit surprising. First off it was hidden behind a door that had required a fire spell. But even more surprising was the fact that the building in the cavern was old and abandoned looking.

" _Wow it's pretty musty and old in here. But…"_ Sora trailed off. A faint sense of familiarity filled him. " _Kind of reminds me of the secret spot back home. Don't you guys agree?"_

Vanitas gave a scoff in response, and Sora had the distinct impression he would be crossing his arms and scowling.

' _It is interesting, but I wonder where the guy is who is supposed to live here. Seems weird though that he would live in a musty run down place like this.'_

Before anyone knew it a man did appear nearly out of the blue. He was an old looking back in blue robes and a long white beard. From the sound of it, he seemed to be expecting them to show up.

It turned out his name was Merlin and that he was a sorcerer. From that Ventus had another moment of remembering something. He explained that he had briefly run into this wizard man before, but he never got much of a change to talk to him.

And as if to prove it he opened up his bag he had with him and used magic to pull out pieces of furniture and make the room look more lived in and homely.

Merlin then explained that he would be there if Sora ever wanted any help to train with magic. Sora was tempted to turn him down, seeing as Ventus and Vanitas were there to help him. But he opted to not voice that opinion aloud.

After a bit of discussion though and handing Merlin the book, they were ready to leave, though Merlin told them to check with the Fairy Godmother first if Sora wanted to know more about the stone he had. He walked over there and soon magic surrounded it and an old lady also dressed in robes appeared.

"You know what this stone does?" Sora asked as he held out the stone.

"Oh, the poor thing! He has turned into a summon gem," Fairy Godmother replied, before explaining that the summoning gem held a soul from a lost world. She proceeded to grant him the power of summoning the creature, which turned out to be a lion named Simba.

As Sora, Donald, and Goofy left Merlin's home, Sora held the stone in his pocket. " _I feel bad for him… to have lost his world but was strong enough to not be lost to the darkness… but the result was this."_

' _Don't worry. I am sure we can find a way to help him back to normal. There has to be a way,'_ Ventus said as reassuring as possible.

" _I hope so,"_ Sora thought back as they exited the cavern area and walked back into the 3rd District.

When Sora rounded the corner he saw several Soldier Heartless. Sora was ready to summon his keyblade, but in the blink of an eye the Heartless was destroyed. He blinked in surprise before he gasped as he spotted familiar silver hair, and a bright yellow shirt that was classic for his friend to wear.

In his hand was a sharp looking sword that's blade was fashioned like a bat or dragon wing, the 'membrane' being red and the 'bone' a dark black that had a slight hint of purple. On it's hilt was an eye, and the handle was covered with black leather braided grip.

"There you are. What's going on?"

* * *

 **And now Riku is in the picture. But how will Sora react seeing his best friend after so long? Heh. Find out next time!**


	31. Chapter 31

**We decided to wait a bit until posting this next chapter, but I hope you all are doing good! Now right where we left of... the Riku reunion! Yay!**

* * *

 **Ch.31**

"Riku!" Sora shouted rushing over to his friend with a grin as he threw his arms around the other boy, "I missed you!"

Riku had to brace himself, making sure that Sora didn't tackle him to the ground. Once he found himself stable he smiled and placed his arms around Sora. "Hey careful there."

"Sorry," Sora apologized and raised a hand to his face to wipe away the tears that were quickly forming. He had missed Riku, and seeing the boy again made it feel as if some part of him that had been missing had returned at last. "I'm not dreaming am I?" He questioned nervous that this was just a dream, and he would wake up to find that Riku wasn't there.

"Course not, I'm right here. Sorry I couldn't find you sooner," Riku replied.

"I'm just glad you're here now, I was looking for you as well," Sora said grinning up at his friend who was still taller than him. "I really missed you Riku… I… I was really worried about you. When you just… disappeared."

Sora lowered his head as he tried to keep the tears from showing again. Yet, the memory came back to him from when the islands were being destroyed. How Riku casually stayed there as the darkness engulfed him, and then vanished the next moment. Sora had never felt so terrified as in that moment. Scared that he would never see Riku again or that something terrible had happened to him.

Sora felt Riku pull him back into another hug. Riku slowly ran his hand through Sora's hair before he spoke up again, "I'm really sorry that I did that. I was so intent on getting off the island I forgot what was more important."

"At least we both made it off safely… there were so many Heartless…" Sora said, letting a few of the tears run down his cheeks as the memories danced around in his mind again.

"I know," Riku whispered. "I shouldn't have left you there on your own."

"I wasn't alone," Sora whispered back with a twinkle of amusement in his eyes, though the twinkle disappeared quickly as the overwhelming guilt crushed him. "I should have been able to reach your hand…"

"It's all in the past now. We're here now, together again," Riku said before finally pulling away from the hug. "We finally made it to another world. Finally free from our little island."

"Yeah, we are… we did it."

"Now all we gotta do is find Kairi," Riku said before looking up to the star filled skies. "She may be out there somewhere if she isn't in this world."

Sora gave Riku a smile, "I _think_ I know some _brothers_ who know where she is," He told Riku, cautious about Donald and Goofy overhearing him. The two of them had stepped back a bit once they saw that Sora had found his friend and needed some time to reunite with him.

Riku turned back to look at him, blinking in surprise. "Really? How… do they know?"

"She's with them, but… sleeping," he answered with a whisper.

"You mean…" Riku trailed off as he casually moved his hand over his chest, as if to scratch an itch. But the indication was clear to Sora what he was trying to refer to.

He just nodded in response, "Yeah."

Riku started to look confused, but it was quickly brushed off. "That's good to know then. But now we would just have to find a way… you know…"

"Yeah… I know… I don't have any clue… but, I have so much to tell you, a lot has happened since that night."

They both turned as they heard a noise and saw a shadow Heartless emerge, Sora reacted on instinct and summoned his keyblade and destroyed the Heartless, before glancing back towards Riku with a grin. He wondered if Riku would be proud of him, he wanted his friend to see how strong he has become.

Riku stared at him with wide eyes, "What? How did you even… what is that you're using Sora?"

"It's a keyblade, I've been using it and magic to stop the Heartless from consuming worlds like they did ours… I can't let other worlds fall into darkness… not if I can stop it…"

"Wow, sounds like you've been pretty busy then," Riku smiled before going to ruffle Sora's hair.

"Yeah, but now that we're together we can fight Heartless together! Just like the good old days when we played on the island."

"Sounds like a good plan. We gotta stick together anyways. I gotta see you being the hero in action, stepping up and all."

"Yeah, we can go on the gummi ship, save worlds! I've been able to travel around via the help of these two," He nods his head a bit in Donald's and Goofy's direction.

"And… they are?" Riku asked. He raised an eyebrow at the other two, finding it a bit odd that Sora was actually working with others.

"My name is Donald!" his duck companion chimed into the conversation and stepped up.

"And I'm Goofy."

Sora gave a slightly exasperated look to Riku, Donald and Goofy were all right most of the time… but it was times like these that he felt especially annoyed. They had clearly been eavesdropping as they didn't wait for Sora to call them over to them.

"Nice to meet you," Riku said, at least trying to be polite. He then focused back on Sora. "So you've already been to other worlds then?"

"Yeah! I've been to this world called Olympus Coliseum, and Wonderland, and Deep Jungle," He informed Riku excitedly.

"Sora," Donald cut in, "You shouldn't be talking so loudly about other worlds. Gotta protect the world order and all."

"But Riku knows about other worlds. He made it here after all," Sora retorted with a slight scowl.

"I don't see a problem with it Donald," Goofy said. "After all, Riku is one of Sora's friends that he has been lookin' for. It should be fine to let Riku know about what Sora's been doin'."

Sora gave a small smile to Goofy, he was really starting to like the dog's easy going nature. "What have you been up to Riku?"

"Look for you and Kairi of course," Riku replied, "But it seems like you have been achieving far more than I have. Lucky you."

Sora gave a bit of a frown at the tone in Riku's voice, he couldn't quite put his finger on it, but the compliment sounded… off.

' _ **Sora… the darkness around Riku has grown since we last saw him,'**_ Vanitas informed hesitantly.

" _Don't say things like that!"_ Sora replied quickly. " _I don't want to think about any of that! Riku wouldn't do that…"_

' _ **It's not bad, he just has to keep balance, like you Sora.'**_

" _I guess so… but don't worry me like that,"_ Sora said before taking a deep breath and exhaling slowly.

"We found each other Riku. That's what is more important. I don't know how much longer I could be without you, without someone who knows me..."

"Like I said before, I'm here for you now. That was my plan anyways to find you and Kairi. Looks like I'm half way there now," Riku smiled to Sora, hoping to cheer him up a bit.

"Let's go help," Sora said with a grin as he hugged Riku again.

"He can't come," Donald squaked before crossing his arms.

"What?"

"Forget it," Donald grumbled.

"Riku's my friend! He has to come with me!" Sora responded glaring a bit at Donald, still upset with him for the whole Deep Jungle incident. Riku placed a comforting hand on Sora's shoulder helping him to stay calm.

Goofy leaned closer to Donald. "If it's about the number of seats, surely we can ask Cid to help install another one."

"No," Donald shook his head. "We were told to find Sora and help him and that's it."

"Well I'm not leaving my friend!"

"I don't care!"

Sora flinched back at that, as if he had been physically struck. His emotions still raw from reuniting with Riku, he started to tear up, he couldn't help it. It was just that Donald reminded him of the kids when he had been younger, how they hadn't cared when he had been bullied, how they had just ignored him or made fun of him. He turned and fled.

* * *

 **A little short chapter, but hmmmm them angsty feels have come back. Poor Sora... what's going to happen now? Thanks for checking out the story! Let's us know what you thought!**


	32. Chapter 32

**Sorry for the delay on posting but here we go next chapter! Posting update on my phone though ahhh.**

* * *

 **Ch.32**

Riku watched Sora run off without a word. But before Sora had, Riku had seen the face that covered his best friend. How hurt he looked when Donald yelled those words. Though Riku had the urge to run after Sora, he knew that Sora wasn't going to struggle on his own. He had his brothers to talk it through with him.

So in the meantime Riku whipped around and glared at Donald. There was no way he was about to let any of this slide. "What's your deal?! Don't you know what you just said?!"

"Yeah? So?" Donald asked, clearly not understanding the power that his words had to Sora.

"You can't just say something like that! Especially to Sora! You have _no idea_ what he has been through," Riku hissed out, not talking his eyes off Donald for a single moment.

"Yeah Donlad, that was a bit mean, don't ya think?" Goofy said.

Riku didn't give Donald a chance to answer. He wasn't going to let him until he understood just what he had done. While he didn't want to go out and give exact details, he knew something had to be said. Something had to be explained so maybe then Donald wouldn't be as insensitive.

"Sora never had an easy childhood. I won't say what, but a lot of things happened that made him very cautious of everyone and everything. He really only had me and Kairi to lookout for him."

Slowly Donald started to show a bit more concern. He was starting to pick up what Riku was hinting at. "You mean…?"

"His trust and ability to open up to make friends was severely broken when he was young. That's why I was honestly surprised to see that he was working so well around you two. I thought that surely something must have happened that caused Sora to actually manage to make other friends. But now you've probably gone and _screw it all up!"_ Riku yelled the last half of his words, his anger finally showing and venting out in full.

Donald looked completely shocked by Riku's words. Clearly nothing like that ever once crossed his mind. Slowly he lowered his head, but he didn't seem to have any words to say.

Goofy on the other hand, seemed to have much more of a verbal reaction. "Gee, we never knew Sora had gone through something like that. I guess that's why he always seemed a bit quiet and distant when meeting others on our journey so far."

"Yeah!" Riku snapped. "Cause he has always been afraid of what others think of him and what will happen if they don't. Someone chooses the wrong words, whether they mean it to be mean or not, and it really does hurt him more than the average person."

"I'm… I'm sorry…" Donald muttered keeping his head down.

"Sorry isn't going to cut it. And saying it to me isn't going to do a thing," Riku said as he crossed his arms. "Not only did you really hurt Sora's feelings, but I am sure that his trust in you, if there was even any to begin with, is gone."

"You know Donald," Goofy started. "Sora still hadn't forgiven you when you two crashed the ship during your argument, so I think still trying to argue with him may have been what did it."

Donald grumbled. Lifting his head slightly, Riku could see how upset he really seemed to be now. "I know that! But I didn't think it was that big of a deal!"

"Well maybe next time you should think about what you say before you actually say it," Goofy instructed.

"If there is even a next time," Riku answered. "First we have to find Sora. And then secondly see if he still isn't shaken up from _your_ words." Riku glared harshly at Donald, wanting to make sure that he knew and remembered from now on what he had done. "And even if he recovers, he still may not want to trust you again after that."

"How about we start looking then," Goofy said, trying to sound hopeful.

"I'm keeping my eye on the two of you though. I'm going to be there if either of you try to talk to Sora again. He'll need me there for support now," Riku huffed before turning away from them. "Come on, I saw him run out of this district."

* * *

He just couldn't take it anymore, he had to get away from the words, from the cruelty. He fled through and collapsed into a heap in one of the alleyways. It was probably in the First District, but he was in no condition to check. " _Why…?"_ Sora questioned, not even sure what he was asking.

' _Hey Sora… It's okay. Remember deep breaths. Try and relax yourself.'_

' _ **There you go, dry those tears up.'**_

" _B-But… what he said…"_ Sora tried to say as he did what his brothers told him.

' _ **Doesn't matter, you have us and Riku and Kairi, we don't need that insensitive duckbutt around us.'**_

' _I'm sure though he didn't mean it to be that harsh…'_ Ventus said, trying to recall the fuzzy memories of when he met Donald and Goofy.

" _He did though!"_ Sora yelled in frustration, causing him to sob again. " _He doesn't care… he doesn't like me… Vani was right not to trust them…"_

' _What about Goofy though… you don't think he was being mean, do you?'_

" _I don't know… he is friends with Donald… probably shouldn't trust him either…"_

' _ **When the argument happened the mutt did take our side, I don't like him, but so far he hasn't messed up like the duck has.'**_

' _I still don't think Donald meant it to be that harsh… I would want to believe that it was a mistake. You know people say things all the time by accident that they don't mean.'_

" _But… he never seems to listen or care about what I say… first with wanting to look for Riku… now with wanting to have Riku come with us…"_

' _He does seem a bit stubborn about things. Like how Vani use to be. But… maybe he was just a bit jealous. You found your friend yet he hasn't found his king.'_

' _ **It's as I said earlier, he expects us to find his king for him and then after that we serve no purpose for them. He believes that since we found Riku that we wouldn't continue to help him look for that king of his.'**_

' _But didn't they say that their king sent them to find Sora to go with him on his journey to save the world? And Sora already said that he was going to do that even to Riku.'_

' _ **They said to find the keyblade wielder… if another keyblade wielder comes along… or if Sora somehow loses his keyblade… what will they do then?'**_

Sora whimpered slightly. " _I like actually being a hero and helping out… I don't wanna lose that… I don't want to be forgotten about."_

' _ **We need to find our own way to travel, so we don't have to rely on them… then we can help others without being forced to do what they want.'**_

" _But.. I um… I kind of liked going around with them… aside from how Donald acted. I liked traveling in the gummi ship. And working with a team… it felt nice to have others like that."_ Sora said before sighing. " _I just don't know what to do… I don't want to ditch them and a-abandoned them. I'd feel awful if I did that."_

' _ **Since we agreed to help them we will, but after we find them the king of theirs then we can split, and we will have others, we will have the brat and the princess with us.'**_

" _I guess…"_

' _I think we should see how things play out, just in case there may be other things that we could help on,'_ Ventus added.

Sora was about to give another response when he heard footsteps. A moment later he heard a voice, "So this is where I saw you run off to."

Sora raised his head and saw Leon standing at the end of the alleyway. He sighed heavily. Leon was the last person he wanted to see right now. Wait… scratch that… Donald was the last person he wanted to see at the moment.

"And what does it matter to you?"

' _Sora, at least try to be nice. Remember how words can affect people,'_ Ventus said in a warning tone.

Sora just gave a bit of a mental shrug at that, not wanting to play nice with Leon, he just wanted to be left alone with his brothers. Unfortunately it seemed that Leon was intent on speaking with him as he approached closer. "I'm going to take a guess and something happened back there with Donald and Goofy?"

He crossed his arms and stayed silent. He didn't have anything to say to Leon.

"You know it can help to talk things out if they are on your mind. You look like you do need to say a few things anyways," Leon said before sitting down in front of Sora.

"I have other people to talk with…" Sora answered, not trying to be unfriendly, but also not wanting to talk with Leon.

' _ **Yeah, Sora has us,'**_ Vanitas said unheard with a smug tone.

' _Shush Vanitas, let the conversation play out.'_

Leon breathed in slowly. "I get you still don't know a lot about me or the others here. But we do want to help you. You don't have to struggle alone with any of this."

"And why would you want to help me?" Sora bit out, not meaning to say that, he just couldn't help it. Why would others besides for his brothers or Riku and Kairi or his parents want to help him. No one else cared.

"Because," Leon started to say. "You are doing something all of us wish we could do. And… I know how you feel."

Sora gave a look at Leon, not sure what to say to that, did the boy really know how he felt? Did he suffer at the hands of bullies as well… or was he just saying that, trying to get Sora to open up with a few false words.

Leon closed his eyes, seeming as if he was recalling long and distant memories. "I never had a lot of courage growing up. I always wanted to try and do the right thing… but things didn't always go my way. Usually ended up hurting me more in the end that I would have liked. I tried to keep myself strong, but I never tried to talk to anyone, and it just weighed down on me over time."

He shifted, wondering how to reply, "I…" He hesitated and closed his mouth and gave a shrug, he just couldn't tell Leon what was going on. How Donald had hurt him. How Donald had reminded him of Rin.

Leon moved his position. Now instead of sitting across from Sora, he sat right next to him, though there was enough space that Sora didn't feel too uncomfortable. "If you are still having trouble talking about it, I guess that is all right too. But just know… I am here if you ever need to talk to someone."

Sora just gave a nod at that and remained silent, not knowing what to say. Leon started to stand up and Sora bit his lip, "You… you can stay… if-if you want," he offered hesitantly, deciding that he didn't mind Leon so much.

Leon nodded in understanding and went to sit back down. "Take as much time as you need. I'll be right here."

The two sat in a comfortable silence for another couple minutes before Sora spoke again, "I-I was bullied… no one ever really cared about me… I was j-just the weirdo… the friendless kid…" He fell silent again and raised a hand to wipe away the tears that had started to fall again.

Leon started to reach out a hand to Sora but stopped half way. He could see how distressed Sora looked, but he wasn't too sure how the kid was to being touched out of the blue. If he was already that sensitive because of his past, Leon didn't want to upset him further.

Sora was looking down at his knees, not looking towards Leon. "Donald… he said he didn't care…. I just reunited with Riku… and Donald wouldn't let Riku come with us… Riku… he's always been there for me…"

"It sounds like he is a bit more hard headed than I originally thought," Leon started to say, "But I'm sure his choice of words were one of those 'in the moment' things. I know that all to well myself…" Leon looked off to the side slightly, frowning to himself.

Sora went quiet again, he knew that sometimes people said what they didn't mean… but it still hurt.

"People do argue. It happens sometimes, even to friends. Sometimes people say things without thinking. I… did it before when I was younger. A couple of years after first coming here when my home fell to darkness. Yuffie was still young and was going on and on about how she wanted to train to be a great ninja. I was tired and didn't want to keep hearing about it, but rather than saying nicely that she maybe talk about something else… I said something not as nice to her."

"I just… why won't he take my thoughts into consideration? He never thinks about what I say… he just says no. As if I were an idiot, and my ideas weren't worth considering…. Or that my friendship with Riku wasn't important."

"Stubborness is a hard thing to work with. I'm sure I've been stubborn plenty of times myself. Just ask Yuffie, I'm sure she will tell you I am as thick as a brick wall," Leon said, hoping to bring a little humor into the conversation. Thankfully there was a soft chuckling and a small grin from Sora.

Perhaps Leon wasn't so bad after all… Sora thought as he leaned back against the wall. "Th-thank you…"

Leon smile. "You're welcome." He decided to take a small chance and reached his hand out and placed it on Sora's head. He lightly ruffled Sora's hair while keeping the smile on his face.

Sora practically melted at the feeling of a hair ruffling through his hair, being reminded of when his parents or Riku would ruffle his hair. He leaned into the feeling a bit as he relaxed for the first time since he had ran off.

* * *

 **And yay for feels and stuff. Hope you guys enjoyed! Let us know your thoughts!**


	33. Chapter 33

**It is the next Tuesday again so that means a new chapter is here for all of you! Again thank you all so much for the reviews and support! This wouldn't happen without you guys!**

* * *

 **Ch.33**

Sora stayed next to Leon for a bit, letting his body and mind finally relax. He never had expected this, and yet he welcomed it. Someone else who cared… who actually showed they cared for him.

 _"Leon's actually not as bad as I thought…"_ Sora's thoughts mumbled aloud and free in his head.

' _See, you just gotta give people a chance!'_

' _ **I suppose there are the rare few that are good… but then more often people are just selfish and after their own self interests.'**_

 _"But Leon seemed better than that. He understands at least,"_ Sora replied.

Finally Sora thought it would be best to speak to Leon again. "Thank you Leon… again"

Leon nodded though he spoke no more words. Nothing more needed to be said as there was already an understanding between them.

Finally Leon let out a sigh. "If you want to know, that's not my real name. Not technically."

"Huh?" Sora asked before tilting his head slightly.

' _ **Oh? If Leon is not his real name then what is… I bet it's something embarrassing,'**_ Vanitas crowed with glee _ **.**_

"If I can ask… what is it?"

"It's Squall. Squall Leonhart," Leon, or technically Squall, answered simply.

 _'I wonder why he used a different part of his name. Seems fine to me,'_ Ventus commented.

"Um… why did you change it?" Sora asked quietly, wanting to know the answer.

"Because… when my home was destroyed by the Heartless… I felt like I could have done more to stop it. I was only sixteen at the time when it happened… and I ended up blaming myself. I wanted to make amends and find a way to restore my home so I changed my name for a new start. It was only a silly thought I had at that age… but it kind of stuck with me."

 _'I guess that's why Yuffie called him Squall once before. But… I didn't realize he blamed himself for something that was out of his control.'_

' _ **Squall itself seems like a weird name, what sort of parents names their child Squall?'**_

 _"I dunno. But at least he told me. I think I can understand him even more now," Sora said._

"Do you want me to call you Squall now? Or do you still prefer Leon?"

He shrugged in response. "At this point it doesn't matter too much, though I am more used to using Leon at this point."

"Okay Leon," Sora nodded to him before a thought entered his mind. Now that he knew Leon cared, Sora started to take in his words and thoughts into consideration. Seeing how Leon must have felt about losing his home, he could understand completely.

Sora started to smile. "I'm going to keep doing my best. I'm going to make sure that no more worlds fall to darkness and I'll find a way to save both of our worlds!"

"Sora?!" He heard his name called out distanly, and within moments he heard footsteps coming closer, "Sora?!" Another questioning call came out, this time he was able to recognize it as Riku.

He grinned as he stood up, "Over here Riku!" He called out so his friend could find him more easily.

Soon Riku rounded the corner, and as soon as he was in eyesight Sora ran at him and hugged him tightly. Though when he looked again he saw Goofy, and a rather upset looking Donald. Sora let go of Riku and backed away slightly, keeping his eyes trained on Donald with a wary look.

Vanitas growled at the sight of Donald.

Before Sora could anything he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up to see Leon there, now standing next to him.

 _'Remember what we just talked about,'_ Ventus said softly.

" _I'm just going to pretend he doesn't exist. I don't want to talk to him at all."_

 _'Sora… you can't ignore him forever. Remember what Leon told you.'_

 _"I know… maybe I said the wrong words there. But it still hurts a lot… I'm still not ready…"_ Sora replied before sighing heavily.

"Sora?" Riku asked. "Are you doing all right?"

"Y-Yeah… Leon helped talk to me, but…" he said before lowering his head. "I'm still a bit shaken from before." He didn't really like admitting any of this outloud. But Riku and now Leon understood him. And he hoped that down the road the other two, mainly Donald, could as well.

Riku nodded to him. "It's okay. We've found you at least."

"Now what though…?" Sora asked.

"Maybe we should go to where the others are. If we are going to talk about what to do next," Leon interjected.

Sora glanced to Donald and Goofy, but looked away before he could see what their reactions were. "Okay. We can do that."

Sora started to walk and once he got to where Riku was, he followed along. Donald and Goofy stepped aside as they let Sora pass, with Sora finally glancing to Donald. He looked completely torn up in his expression. But when he opened his mouth to speak Sora instinctively tensed up and looked away, the fear and hurt still burning in him. He stepped closer to Riku and clung to his arm, trying to find some more ways to relax himself. And being close to Riku was probably the best remedy he had for that.

They quickly made their way back to Third District. When they got there, Leon lead them into the small house that was near the entrance. Inside there was Yuffie, Cid, and Aerith talking to one another.

The filled in one after another before all of them were in the room. Sora instinctively went towards a corner of the room, both so he could observe everyone easier, and so he could have a bit of privacy. Riku followed him over with a fond look in his eyes and a knowing grin that caused Sora to pout in return.

Now that everyone was accounted for, Cid choose to speak up. "So is this one of your friends you mentioned before?"

Sora nodded a little. "Yeah, this is Riku." He pointed slightly to Riku who gave a slight wave to the others.

Cid nodded back. "Now here's the question, any of you guys ever heard of Maleficent?"

"No… should I?" Sora asked.

' _I don't like it… that name… it makes me uneasy…'_

 _"Maybe something from your past again?"_

' _Perhaps… let's focus now.'_

Before Sora could ask a question, Riku spoke instead. "What's important about her? Just who is she?"

"A witch, man!" Cid exclaimed. "She's a witch. A real one."

"She's probably the reason this town is full of Heartless. Don't take her lightly," Leon added.

"She's been using the Heartless for years…" Aerith said before sighing.

"And because of her that's why our world was lost… she brought the Heartless there," Leon said before lowering his head. "And that was nine years ago…"

"I found all of these guys and came here with afterwards before things got really bad," Cid added.

 _"Wow… it's hard to believe all of them have been cast from their home for so long…"_

 _'Vani and I been gone nearly as long Sora,"_ Ventus commented. _'I haven't been to my home in years either.'_

' _ **Speak for yourself idiot,'**_ Vanitas said with a scoff

 _'I know,'_ Ventus sighed dramatically. _'We have a different circumstance… but still… I know how they feel at least. But yeah… after all this time I would say that I see being here is my new home.'_

Sora internally smiled to his brothers. _"Thanks guys."_

"Do you have any idea where she came from?" Riku asked.

The other three shook their head. Then Aerith was the one to speak. "No, we only knew she showed up and then the Heartless came along…"

"That's awful," Donald said.

"We've managed somehow," Leon stated with a bit of a grin. "But… our ruler was a wise man named Ansem. He dedicated his life to studying the Heartless."

Cid then went on to explain about a report that Ansem apparently had made. But all of the pages had been lost when their world was destroyed. And Cid suspected Maleficent was trying to get her hands on them if she didn't already have most of them.

"So… what do we do if we run into this Maleficent person?" Sora asked.

"Steer clear of her. She is far too dangerous," Leon replied with a warning.

Sora sighed. _"I'd want to go after her though. She's the one that destroyed Leon's home…"_

 _'Maybe once you've gotten stronger we can go after her, but I agree for now we shouldn't confront her so soon.'_

Soon Cid went to ask Sora if he had delivered the book. Sora nodded and gave his answer to which Cid talked about the gummi piece he had installed. He then told Sora to keep an eye out if he happened to see any others, because then Cid would be able to add a bit more to the ship.

As Sora felt it was time to head out, Aerith came up to talk to him. She mentioned briefly about the bell in the 2nd District. Then Yuffie added into the conversation, saying that there was a legend tied to the bell on top of the gizmo shop.

 _"You guys think we should check it out? It does sound odd… ringing a bell three times and all."_

' _ **It sounds suspicious, aren't bells often rang multiple times?'**_

 _'I think they mean physical ringing it three times oppose it just going off each hour,'_ Ventus replied.

 _"Let's go out and see then,"_ Sora said before heading to the door.

Once he was back outside he said that Riku, Donald, and Goofy followed closely. He breathed slowly when he saw that Donald and Goofy were sticking with me, but he knew there wasn't much he could do about it.

"Hey Sora, don't worry. I'll be right here for you," Riku said before placing a hand on Sora's shoulder.

Sora gave a grin and nodded. They made their way to the second district, fighting against heartless as they made their way to the bell tower. Sora grabbed the rope, then after only a moment's hesitation he rang the bell. He blinked in surprise as he noticed the mural in the fountain changed and the empty fountain was now filled with flames. After the brief observation he rang the bell again and the mural changed once more, the fire dissipating and the lights above the fountain turned on. With a final rang the lights turned off and water started spurting out of the fountain and the mural changed to butterflies around a flower, revealing a large keyhole.

As the group jumped down towards the fountain a Heartless came falling out of the sky and landed with a thud, shaking the ground. The group attacked the Guard Armor Heartless and after a long and grueling fight they managed to defeat it. The helmet fell into its torso and a large glowing heart started to float up into the sky before the armor disappeared.

Sora stepped towards the keyhole and raised his keyblade, a beam of light came out and locked the keyhole. The Keyhole shimmered and broke apart disintegrating into pieces, leaving only the butterfly mural and a gummi block. "This world should be safe now, right? We locked the keyhole after all…" Sora mused out loud.

 _'Should help save the world from falling into darkness. Though I feel Heartless could still roam around for a while. At least until we clear the rest out.'_

' _ **At least it will give us something to fight.'**_

Sora nodded slowly to make it seem more natural to the others around him. Then he turned around to face the group and saw Riku looking at him with a bit of a surprise.

"So this is what you've been doing in those other worlds. Impressive."

"Yeah, but it'll be more fun with you now!"

"I bet it would, but it looks like you've got it all handled…" Riku replied. "Besides there was something on my mind that I thought I should take care of…"

"Huh?" Sora asked, his voice wavering slightly. "What do you mean?"

"You got a mission to do now and save the worlds. And me… well I think I should go and try to find Kairi."

"B-But…"

Riku walked closer and wrapped his arms around Sora. He leaned in closer before whispering into his ear. "To find her body or at least a way to bring her back safely."

"Can't we do that together though?"

"It might take too long that way. Saving the worlds is what you need to do first. But I promise I'll be safe. And Sora… I want you to be strong for me, okay?"

"But… I don't want you to leave me. Please… Don't leave me again. I can't be strong, not without you."

"It won't be forever, I promise. But there is something I want to look into. I am going to do whatever I can to find a way to get Kairi back. Besides, I know you can be strong Sora. You know you can and I believe in you. Don't doubt yourself cause I know you are one of the strongest people I've ever met," Riku replied before giving a reassuring smile.

Sora frowned, "Alright…" He didn't want his friend to leave, but what Riku said made sense.

' _It'll be fine! Riku is strong after all!'_

' _ **The brat won't give up until he finds a way to get Kairi's body, let him focus on that, and us focus on fighting the Heartless. This way we are multitasking.'**_

 _"Okay. I get it,"_ Sora replied with a nod, showing he understood both his brothers and Riku.

"Then I'll be off for now," Riku said as he pulled away from Sora. He then glanced to Goofy and Donald. He then focused directly at Donald. "And you… you watch yourself. If I come back and hear you screwed up again, I won't let you get away with it."

Donald nodded in response, but chose to remain silent.

"I guess I'll be going now, you have fun adventuring Sora. Who knows though, maybe we will get to cross paths on one of the worlds sometime soon."

* * *

 **So yes Riku did have to leave, but he didn't just ditch Sora. They will meet up again soon and eventually Sora will learn more about what Riku's plan is.**

 **But until then he has to try and work with Donald and Goofy again. So see you all next time to see how that goes!**


	34. Chapter 34

**Hey guys, first off, Happy Thanksgiving!**

 **Second so sorry for the delay, we just got a bit behind on things. But we did manage to get through this chapter at least!**

* * *

After Riku left the area it was only Sora, Donald, and Goofy. Sora stood there though, still feeling a bit awkward and uncomfortable.

 _'Come on Sora, you need to be strong like Riku said. And that means you gotta face this and keep things going.'_

 _"I know… I gotta try. For Riku,"_ Sora commented before looking back at Donald and Goofy.

"Umm… you guys ready to go?"

"I'm ready if you are," Goofy said.

"We can go now," Donald said softly, still not making direct eye contact with Sora.

The three walked back to the 1st District and talked to Cid outside of the Accessory Shop. There he talked more about the gummi blocks they had found and what he did to upgrade the ship. But soon enough they were finished and they could head back on their journey to other worlds.

As the ship piloted along, Sora couldn't help but stare out the window. There was no way he could look at or try to talk to either Donald or Goofy right now. He still did not feel ready to do that yet. And he wasn't sure how long it would be until he was.

Sora let out a long sigh, not caring if he was heard by Donald or Goofy. " _Maybe I should just go head back to the sleeping quarters…"_

' _If you would feel better, then you could do that,'_ Ventus replied.

Though he did wish that things could be better between Sora, Donald, and Goofy, he knew pushing Sora was not the answer. After what happened he knew how sensitive Sora's heart and mind was. And when Ventus could feel the hurt and turmoil in Sora's heart, he knew that the best thing to do was let him recovery. There was that and do whatever he could to comfort his little brother.

' _Just let them know at least, okay?'_ Ventus said.

' _ **He doesn't have to tell them anything,'**_ Vanitas grumbled.

' _It's just something to be polite.'_

Sora sighed again and stood up. "I um… let me know when we get to the next world…"

Sora didn't even wait to hear if they responded to him. He quickly left the area and headed down to the sleeping quarters. Once he was sitting on the bed, it wasn't long before he flopped back and let out a sigh.

"I hope that Riku is going to be okay," he muttered aloud.

' _You know him, he is going to be fine. Plus he is going to try and find a way to save Kairi, isn't that good to hear?'_

' _ **I wonder just how he thinks he can do that, but I do have to agree,'**_ Vanitas added.

"Do you really think he will be able to do it? Like… how could something like that work?" Sora asked.

' _I'm not sure… we only know that her heart is resting here with us. But maybe her body is out there somewhere? I'm sorry, I wish I had the right answers.'_

"That's okay Ven, what matters is that Kairi is safe with us," Sora replied. "Though, she still hasn't woken up yet, has she?"

' _ **Nothing yet, but you need to remember to give it time. These things don't just happen right away.'**_

"Yeah I know… I am just anxious to talk to her again…" Sora sighed.

Before Vanitas or Ventus could give their replies, the speaker in the room turned on. " _Um, hey Sora,"_ it was Goofy's voice. " _It looks like there is some activity going on at the Olympus Coliseum. If you wanna check it out, let us know."_

Sora hummed softly, but made no attempt to get up from his spot. Even though he did want to check out what was going on, he still felt so uncertain being around Donald and Goofy again. He ran his hands over his arms as he tried to do some deep breathing to calm himself down.

' _We should go see what is going on. Maybe they need more help down there.'_

' _ **And if that goat has fixed the colosseum, that means we could compete and train more,'**_ Vanitas suggested.

"You think so?" Sora asked quietly.

' _ **Yeah, beats just sitting here forever. Let's go see if we can smack around some Heartless again.'**_

' _And we still have to find the keyhole in that world. Sealing it up would help stop the flow of Heartless,'_ Ventus added in.

"I guess you guys have a point," Sora said as he jumped off the bed and headed up to the front of the ship.

Sora headed up front and once he was there he managed to say that he did want to check out what was going on down in the coliseum. After they landed and disembarked, they saw there were still Heartless running around the area and there seemed to be more inside from what they could tell.

When the group got into the coliseum, Phil was there to explain everything was back up and running if they wanted to enter one of the current tournaments. Sora agreed and the group was sent out into the main area to find that their opponents were in fact groups of Heartless.

Though Sora did work alongside Donald and Goofy in fighting, he didn't speak to them. The only time he did was when one of them cast a healing spell or tossed a potion his way. Other than that he was completely silent for his anxiety and fears were covering his heart.

When the rounds were over, and the Heartless were finished off, Sora with Donald and Goofy had proved to be the winners. The three of them headed out of the tournament area and found Phil waiting to talk to them.

"I gotta say kid. I never thought that you could do it. Not bad," Phil said.

Vanitas scoffed. ' _ **Like he thinks measy attempts like that are going to mean anything.'**_

' _He's trying to be nice at least,'_ Ventus replied.

' _ **He literally said he didn't think Sora could do it. I wouldn't call that trying at all.'**_

"Phil," Hercules said. "You're as stubborn as ever. Don't pretend you're not happy for them."

Phil grumbled and looked away briefly. "Ahem! Now, kid, you've still got a long way to go. The next tournament will happen in a couple days. Come back and we will see how you can handle the real thing."

"Sure," Sora managed to say aloud. He then started to walk away, but a thought stopped him in his tracks.

' _What's wrong Sora?'_

" _I was thinking about your other friend you mentioned… Zack. If he was here before and Cloud was trying to look for him, you think maybe Hercules may know where he is?"_ Sora asked.

' _ **We don't need to waste our time with this. I don't see how this is important.'**_

" _I've just been wondering about it… that's all. Losing a friend and wanting to find them, I can understand how Cloud felt now that I think about it."_

' _ **I suppose it wouldn't hurt to ask, but we should focus on our own goal first,'**_ Vanitas commented.

' _We're here now, so might as well just ask to save time though,'_ Ventus added in.

Sora turned around and walked up to Hercules. "Hey, um Hercules?"

"Yeah Sora? And hey, it's okay, you can just call me Herc."

"Okay… but um I was wondering… for a friend I know… if you know anyone by the name of Zack."

Herc's eyes widened slightly. "Yeah, I do actually. How do you know of him?"

"A friend," Sora replied. "A friend I knew said they thought he was here, but I haven't seen him. Would you know where he is?"

Herc's eyes soften slightly, looking more distant. "I'm sorry, I actually don't know what happened to him."

"Huh?" Sora asked, not expecting an answer like that.

"He had hung out at the coliseum a lot about ten years ago, but then one day he just vanished. Not a word or anything."

' _I hope nothing happened to him… it sounds odd that he would just vanished like that.'_

"The more I think about it, it does feel a bit odd. I know how much he wanted to be a hero, but to just up and leave without a word doesn't feel like something he would do," Herc continued after a moment.

"You don't think he left because he felt like it?" Sora asked.

"No, that isn't who he is. But now you've gotten me curious. As soon as I get the chance, I am going to try and ask around if anyone knows anything. That sound good?"

Sora's eyes widened slightly. He hadn't expected Herc to help him out at all. "Wait, you want to look for Zack?"

"Yeah, of course. He is a friend of mine, and you said you knew someone else who knew him. So might as well get to the bottom of this mystery."

"Oh… ah thanks," Sora mumbled, still surprised at the kindness and generosity from Herc.

"No problem, see you around Sora," Herc said, waving his hand. He then walked over to somewhere else in the coliseum.

Once Sora was walking again, he headed outside of the area where Donald and Goofy had been waiting. Though his mind wasn't on them or if they were going to ask him anything. He nodded to them though before they all headed out and got back on the gummi ship. Once back there, Sora zoned out to focus more on his thoughts again to his brothers. " _You really think he will look into finding Zack?"_

' _I hope so… if he doesn't know, it makes me a bit concerned what could have happened to him.'_

' _ **I still don't really think it matters too much. Who cares just about some guy you met once?'**_

' _He was my friend I made while traveling around! I may not remember a lot of all those years ago, but I remember making friends and all of them being special to me!'_

Vanitas let out a long sigh, surprisingly not giving a retort back. ' _ **Hmph fine, whatever.'**_

" _You okay Vani?"_ Sora asked, telling that Vanitas seemed a bit upset by his tone.

' _ **I said fine, what more do you want? Let's just focus on the next world already,'**_ Vanitas replied hastily.

" _But Vani…"_

' _Sora… I don't think Vani wants to talk too much about it right now,'_ Ventus added softly. ' _We will probably be at the next world soon, so we should be ready for that.'_

* * *

 **It was a bit of a short chapter, but we hope you guys enjoyed it for what it was. TheDeadGirlRisen and I hope to get the next one done when we can. But we will see you all next time!**


	35. Chapter 35

**Whoa look at this! We finally remembered to finish this chapter and update! So sorry for the wait but thank you all for the support thus far!**

* * *

 **Ch.35**

The next world was a place called Agrabah, and just like the rest it was all new and interesting to Sora. Though this was a world that neither Vanitas or Ventus had any familiarity with. All three of them could agree on one thing though… this world was extremely hot and barren. It was a desert land after all.

What Sora didn't expect was to encounter new people so quickly, but he started to realize that meeting new people was just a part of his journey. He was going to have to meet more and more people whether he really felt up to it or not. But again like the other times, the people he had been meeting, while a bit strange, were nice and friendly.

The first person he encountered was a young girl named Jasmine. They had stopped her from being captured by the man named Jafar, but before they could do anything further they of course had to fight Heartless.

Next it was a slightly older boy named Aladdin and a magic blue Genie who was a bit too energetic for Sora's initial liking. But he worked alongside them to fight the Heartless while they all went to rescue Jasmine and to stop Jafar.

Though his journey in the world didn't end on as good as a note as he would have wished. They were able to defeat Jafar in the end, but Jasmine had been captured somewhere long in the fight. Sora felt bad that he wasn't able to save her, but he tried his best to promise Aladdin that he would find her for him.

' _Don't get too down about it Sora,'_ Ventus said once they were back on the Gummi ship.

' _ **I am sure that you will find the missing princess.'**_

" _But… I feel like I could have done more. I should have noticed someone took her… who could have even done that? It obviously wasn't Jafar."_

' _ **I don't know… but, I could feel a surge of darkness, I thought it was due to Jafar… but maybe it was something else?'**_

" _Maybe it was Maleficent?"_

' _I don't know… but it was someone using the darkness.'_

"What is that?" Donald squaked, causing Sora to look out into space.

There was something floating around the area before them… and it was rather large. "It's huge!"

The shape turned and flew right over the ship, revealing just what it was.

"It's a giant whale!" Goofy exclaimed.

' _ **A whale... in space?'**_

' _How is it even breathing out there?'_

' _ **That shouldn't be possible.'**_

Jiminy then jumped out and looked at the whale flying around. "It's Monstro! He's a whale of a whale, and vicious besides!"

' _ **Obviously.'**_

"We gotta get out of here!" Donald exclaimed as he started fiddling with the controls.

But it was too late. The whale had come around and opened its large mouth, ready to swallow them. The ship was swallowed into the darkness and then everything felt like it was being tossed and turned. It only lasted a minute until Sora hit something and blacked out.

For a brief moment Sora had passed out, but at that time he thought back to a memory for years ago. A memory of the time he had went to explore the secret place with Riku. It didn't last long though as Sora's mind was brought back into consciousness.

"Hmm… what happened?" he moaned as he let his eyes adjust to wherever he was.

' _ **The giant space whale swallowed us,'**_ Vanitas deadpanned.

Sora quickly sat up to see that they were in fact in the body of the giant whale. "Whoa… this is… really weird…"

' _ **Hmm if we had something long sharp and very sturdy we could possibly muster enough force to pierce the whale so we can escape.'**_

' _But we have been knocked out of the Gummi ship. We need to find it first,"_ Ventus interjected.

' _ **Hmpf, not very secure that ship.'**_

" _Well I don't think the ship was ever designed to be space whale proof,"_ Sora commented.

' _ **The fact that a space whale is even a thing seems stupid.'**_

' _At least we have a more interesting story to tell now,'_ Ventus commented trying to make light of the situation.

' _ **If we get out of this creature alive.'**_

" _Vani…"_ Sora whined. " _Can't you be a bit more optimistic? Weren't you just suggesting ways for us to get out?"_

' _ **Yes, but I'd rather didn't think you would appreciate my suggestion to burn the creatures intestines.'**_

" _Well there has to be some way at least… let's go see if the other two are okay,"_ Sora replied before finally standing up.

He met up with Donald and Goofy who were just as lost as confused as they were. From a brief inspection around the mouth of the whale, there seemed to be more than the Gummi ship inside of this huge whale.

Soon enough they came Pinocchio, the little wooden puppet that Jiminy was supposed to be the conscious for. Everything was going fine with Pinocchio and his father, who was also trapped in a whale with them. But soon enough Pinocchio had wandered off again and his father, Geppetto, asked Sora, Donald and Goofy to go after the little boy and bring him back.

' _ **Great, now we are having to be some sort of child protection service,'**_ Vanitas grumbled.

' _Pinocchio is just a little boy. He doesn't know any better yet,'_ Ventus replied softly.

" _I don't really mind, gives us something to do while we are stuck here at least,"_ Sora said, looking around for where the puppet would be.

Eventually they found him further into the whale. Sora sighed a little. "Oh, this is where you went. How did you get back here so quickly? Whatever… let's just go back."

"You know," Goofy added. "Geppetto's awfully worried about you."

"Come on Pinocchio, you can play once we get back to your father," Sora said before turning around. "This is no time for just playing games."

"But, Sora, I thought you liked games."

Sora turned around to see Riku standing next to Pinocchio. Sora started to smile upon seeing his friend, but there was something about Riku's expression that threw him off.

"Or do you think that playing games is under you now that you have the keyblade?"

"Wh-what?" Sora asked as he stepped a bit closer to where Riku was. "What do you mean? How did you even get here?"

"I told you before that I was going to look into something. To try and find a way to get Kairi back. Remember? Or did you have so much fun saving other worlds that you forgot about that."

"No… I didn't forget!" Sora shouted.

"Sure," Riku replied dryly. "I'll believe that."

"But does that mean you found something? Something that could help?" Sora asked quickly.

Riku huffed out a little air, still giving that expression that looked unimpressed. "Maybe I did. Maybe I didn't. If you catch us… then just maybe I'll tell you what I know." Riku took Pinocchio's hand and pulled him further into the whale, leaving the group behind.

"Riku…" Sora whispered, trying to understand what had just happened.

' _ **Sora… be careful… that darkness around Riku is still growing, I feel like something is clouding his mind.'**_

Sora pursed his lips, trying not to show his worries to Donald and Goofy as they made their way even deeper into the whale. " _What do you mean though? The darkness is clouding his mind?"_

' _ **Well… it's like someone has used the darkness to manipulate Riku's thoughts on certain things.'**_

" _Who could be doing that… Either way I gotta snap Riku out of it!"_

' _That's the spirit, Sora!'_ Ventus cheered. ' _I know we can get through to Riku.'_

' _ **Hmm, well seeing as it is the darkness manipulating Riku's thoughts we might be able to clear them away by using the darkness ourselves.'**_

Sora's widened as he slashed through a Heartless. " _You mean… like use the darkness I have to… fight the darkness controlling him?"_

' _ **Exactly. But… you are going to have to be stronger in the darkness then whoever is controlling his thoughts.'**_

" _I don't think I could… my darkness isn't that strong yet… and it just feels weird that I would have to do something like that."_

' _ **Why do you think it is weird?'**_

" _A bit…"_

' _I agree… using the darkness to overpower someone else's darkness is a bit unsettling sounding,'_ Ventus added.

' _ **We would have to use it in order to wipe it away, whoever is manipulating Riku's mind would obviously not want to relinquish control. I'm just saying we will have to be strong enough to stop the person from regaining control of Riku's mind. Darkness is needed to remove it from Riku's mind, but we could use Light to shield his mind from further attempts at regaining control, in fact using a light shield as defense would be the best course of option… but first thing we would have to do is remove the foreign darkness.'**_

" _I guess that makes sense. I just hope Riku is doing okay…"_

' _He's Riku. I am sure deep inside he must be trying to fight the darkness controlling him,'_ Ventus added. ' _Now speaking of light and darkness, how about you try using your claws again? I think it's been a little while since you last used them.'_

" _Right,"_ Sora said before dismissing his keyblade briefly and bringing back both his void and prism claws. Right away he went into attack the last remaining Heartless in the chamber that they were in.

"Hey, I haven't seen ya used your claws in a while," Goofy said once all the Heartless were gone.

"And?" Sora said quickly dismissing them away.

"Oh nothing, I just think they are still pretty neat," Goofy answers.

"Ah… okay, thanks," Sora replied, speaking softly.

"Uh Sora," Donald said. Sora didn't look over at him though. "Seeing those claws reminded me… if you still want to learn more magic, I'll still help."

' _ **Oh yes, sure let's learn magic from the duck that doesn't know how to keep his beak shut.'**_

' _Vani,'_ Ventus said. ' _Donald is just trying to make things better than how they were before.'_

' _ **And what if he is just trying to regain Sora's trust, only to end up breaking it again? Even if he only breaks it by accident. It's better to not be friends with him as he doesn't ever think to consider how his words and actions will affect others.'**_

" _Guys… can we talk about this later? I'd rather not think about it right now…"_ Sora whispered to his brothers before looking at Donald. He knew it wouldn't be right of him to just ignore Donald, even if he didn't truly feel like talking to him. "I… I guess… but maybe later…"

"Okay, if you say so," Donald replied, his voice just as quiet as Sora's had come off.

" _Riku's the focus right now… that's all I wanna think about and do. Gotta find Riku… gotta find him and talk to him… get him out of whatever trance or brainwash he is in."_

' _Don't worry, Sora. I know we will find a way. Just like we were talking about. Just like I said before, Riku is still Riku.'_

" _I know… guess we just gotta keep moving on until we find him again. He can't be too far… we are in a whale after all."_

' **Oh yes how hard can it be to find him in a giant space whale,'** Vanitas remarked sarcastically.


End file.
